


Bloodlust

by sayoko



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, May add tags later, Vampire AU, Victorian inspired, VtM inspired, idk dude I'm taking many liberties, oh my, so many, so many OC as well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 01:58:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6101068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayoko/pseuds/sayoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>It was easy to forget that the Zoldycks were once mortal. They had embraced their new life perfectly. Their world remained the same, except for their working hours... and a few other details.</i>
</p><p>  <i>It was easy to forget that Hisoka was a hunter. After all, he didn't hunt because of a sense of duty. He only did it to challenge and amuse himself.</i></p><p>  <i>In the end, it shouldn't have been a surprise that both men forgot they were supposed to be enemies. </i></p><p>  <i>In the end, it shouldn't have been a surprise that the world would not fail to remind them that.</i></p><p> <br/>A hisoillu Vampire/Hunter!AU \o/</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A sea of distance

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by the game Vampire: the Masquerade. I wanted to create a crossover beetween HxH and VtM, but since both worlds are already so complex, I decided to add just certain elements of VtM to the HxH world (that's why I don't really consider it a crossover). My intention is that people who have not played the game can still read this with no problems. The story also takes place in a Victorian-esque epoch (will probably also take liberties with that [shrugs]).
> 
> And that's all, I think... Bye! c:

“Aniki, do you have any new books?”

The eldest brother turned around. His brother was standing next to the doorstep with his hands in his pockets. His blue eyes shined brightly in the darkness of the room. 

“Mmm… Let me see.”

Illumi moved to his bookshelf and quickly scanned his collection.

“Is it for you? ... Or are you reading to someone again?”

“Eeh? Who would I read to? You are weird, Aniki.”

“Really? I had the impression you were reading to someone downstairs, in the underground chambers…”

“Nope. I just like that place. Silent, good for reading... You should visit it someday.”

Killua’s voice sounded perfectly innocent and Illumi couldn’t help smiling faintly. What a snarky offering. Illumi knew perfectly well he was telling him to visit the creature captured in the basement of their mansion, just like he had been doing secretly for a long time now. It was forbidden, but so far it had proven harmless and it kept his brother entertained, so Illumi let them be. Killua was also aware that his older brother knew of his visits, but denied it every time the topic was mentioned.

“Well… The only book you have not read is this one… “The Conquest of Queronea” It’s a history book.”

“Whaaat? That sounds really boring... Do you really read that stuff?”

Illumi shrugged. There were some books in that shelf that he had never read despite all the years they had been there. He kept them in hope of reading them someday, but he always felt himself drawn back to the same ones.

“I can lend you “The Hunter and the Beekeeper” again.”

“Uh, but I have read that two times already.”

“Oh …I have read it more times than that.”

“Eh?? Why?”

“I like it.”

“But it’s so tragic.” Killua sighed. “You really are weird. …Nevermind.” The younger Zoldyck interlaced both hands at the back of his head and looked at his brother as he went back to his bedside. There lied a small yet sturdy suitcase. “Are you going abroad for work again?”

Illumi nodded, carefully packing a hooded cloak.

“…C-could you bring me a book? A novel?”

The expressionless face of the eldest brother stared at Killua for a moment. _That would delay our schedule. For certain._ , he pondered. He opened his mouth to say no, but the pleading blue eyes of his brother widened, full of hope, and the word could not pass his lips.

“I will try.” He finally answered. He truly would. After all, it was better to have him busy at home than to watch him try to escape again.

A carriage was waiting at the base of the mountain where the assassins’ mansion was built. The target this time was relatively close, in the neighboring continent. However, since the trip would take a couple of days, two butlers were accompanying Illumi. Above them the full moon illuminated their way and the road to the port was clear. There was an old man waiting for them at the dock, a captain with his skin parched after a life of sailing along and against the ocean wind. He greeted the Zoldyck respectfully, but Illumi could sense the fear on him and the rest of the crew. He was not worried, however. The captain, though afraid, would never betray him and if the sailors attempted a mutiny while he was sleeping his butlers would deal with it. Even though they were human they were fairly strong and reliable, Zoldyck butlers, after all. 

They boarded the ship, their usual clipper, and set sail immediately. The crew and the two butlers went inside, but Illumi stayed at the upper deck watching the moonlight dancing gracefully over the black water. A couple of meters behind, the captain stood hesitating. He was a simple man who had been working for the Zoldyck family for about a decade now, but he just could not get used to this family member. He could chat with the grandfather (the most likable) and the father, and sometimes even the youngest child. But this one…

“It seems we will have a calm trip.”

“Ah, I’m glad to hear that.”

There was another moment of nothing but the sound of the waves against the ship. The captain was about to leave when he remembered something.

“Ah… I don’t know if you have heard… I mean it’s all rumours but…”

“Please, speak.”

“I was told that recently there was a… a bloodbath, you could say.” He went silent, trying to find the right words. “…There is a city in the region of Temu, the same region where we will land... And well, all your people there were exterminated. A whole city.”

“I was aware of that, but thank you. Is there anything else?”

The captain hesitated again. His information came from a friend, a drunken one, and he was not sure how much of it was true. Was it okay to tell him this? Would he get angry at him for wasting his time? The eldest brother’s face was unreadable, like an empty mask. He looked at the floor and when he looked back up the assassin was right next to him.  
“Is there anything else, captain?”

The old man’s eyes met directly with the assassin’s and he could not look away. The question repeated itself again and again in his head, louder than the sound of the waves and the wind. He could not stop his mouth from talking. He could not control the words that left his lips.

“A friend told me this, but we were both very drunk. He said he had slept with a woman from Temu. She told him that the entire city got together and hired someone to do it, to kill all the vampires. She said a man did it completely on his own. Then my friend vomited all over the floor. But he seemed sincere. He had no reason to lie to me. I just can’t believe a single man freed a whole city.”

“I see… Thank you, that is new information.”

Illumi moved back to his previous spot by the banister and the captain was once again in full control of himself. Cold sweat covered the old man’s body as he tried to erase the sight of the bottomless pits that that man had for irises. _This Zoldyck is the creepiest._ This was not the first time he had interrogated him like that. All he had to do was look at him in the eye and he would answer anything he asked. It was frightening. The captain was terrified that someday he would say something that Illumi would not like and he would end up in the Davy Jones’ Locker. Why he kept trying to start conversation with Illumi was a mystery to himself.

“Ah, and captain, those are not my people. My only people are my family. They are also the only ones you should worry about. Please don’t forget that.” Said the assassin with a smile on his face that was intended to be calming yet had the opposite effect.

“Y-yes…” 

_As if I wanted to mingle with more of your wretched kind._ The captain left, promising himself never to try approaching that creature again. He had become so used to them that he tended to forget the real nature of the cursed family. Illumi was once more absorbed in the midnight scenery. If the moon weren’t so big and bright it would be hard to tell where the ocean ended and the night-time sky began. It was beautiful; however, the landscapes were not what Illumi liked most about travelling abroad. It was the promise of a challenge, of a hunt. Human or vampire, it didn’t matter; assassination was the only thing that brought him real joy. 

 

Some time before this, on the other side of the sea, a red-haired man arrived at the town of Boroa. The skies were tinted bright orange and the sun was starting to set, yet the streets were almost empty. It was not uncommon in rural areas for people to have no nightlife, but this place looked completely deserted. He walked around until he found a police station, probably the only one in town. 

When the foreigner greeted the policemen inside the station all of them jumped. A strange man was standing right between then and they had not heard or seen him coming in. The cheerful laugh of the stranger did not seem to dissipate the tension in the air.

“I’m sorry I scared you, gentlemen. I’ll introduce myself.” Hisoka said while reaching a pocket inside his long coat. 

The five policemen immediately took out their guns and pointed them at him, but the red-haired man just continued searching until he took out a letter envelope and handed it to the men.

“My name is Hisoka. I’m a monster hunter and I was told you might have a situation that could use my services. Here’s a letter from Governor Ibran, in case you doubt my words.”

The envelope contained a letter of recommendation praising him for “the astounding task of successfully eliminating the nocturnal vermin that had pervaded the city of Temu”. The attitude of the policemen changed immediately. Hisoka laughed a little to himself remembering all the times the police had been after him instead of on his side. The fact that he had never met the governor in person was also funny. The group offered Hisoka something to eat.

“Thank you, but this was a long trip and I would not want to inconvenience you, much less to miss my prey because I was having dinner.”

He was smiling, yet there was something in his voice that made them understand this was not up to debate.

“Now, what can you tell me about the monster?”

The men looked at each other, finally the oldest spoke.

“It all started weeks ago. The first days we got reports of people finding their relatives dead in strange conditions. Everyone thought it was a serial killer… The police looked every day for a culprit, but they didn’t know it was no use searching with sunlight. The killings kept happening until it was no longer just one victim. That monster, it does not kill to feed anymore, it can't be... there's always so much blood on the scenes… It’s like it leaves the entire families to bleed out.”

The man remembered the time he had stepped into one of those scenes. He had not realized at first. It was the stickiness of the floor that made him look down. The rug was tinted red and it soaked his shoes.

“Have you faced “it”?” asked Hisoka to wake up the man from his dream state. “Also what do you mean by “they”, aren’t you part of the police?”

“Oh… Sorry, yes, but we are the replacement. See, just two nights ago the monster came back… It must have been angry to find no one.“

“Most of the people went to other cities and the rest are hiding in cellars.” added another officer.

“Yes. The only ones on the street that night were the officers... May they rest in peace”

“It killed everyone. We were just in training but we had no choice but to take their places.” interrupted another one.

The hunter looked at the group. That would explain why everyone was so young.

“Ok, but what else can you tell me about the vampire?”

“Bullets only seem to slow it down… Its face is deformed. It’s disgusting. It also has big claws, really big. They can go right through the chest of a man.”

This was not very informative, but neither had been Hisoka's informant. "A beastlike enemy will appear in Boroa. Kill him. Don’t get touched by his claws.” That was all she had said.

“I want to meet him. Where do I find him?”


	2. Boroa

The policemen had no idea where to find the vampire. They also had no way of knowing if he would even show up. Hisoka left the men at the station and started wandering around. According to his informant, the vampire would appear in Boroa. She said that as a certainty. The hunter remembered the first time they met. It was actually her that approached him first. She made no effort to hide what she was. She smiled at him and the sharp points of her fangs shined lit by candlelight. "I've been watching you" she had said "I think we should be friends." After that meeting, Hisoka had been following her instructions and so far her information was reliable. The vampire would appear; he just had to be patient.

 

After walking around for a while, he stopped at what could be said was the entrance to Boroa. The town was old and the houses were so few that Hisoka considered it more of a village. There was nothing enclosing the town, not even the remains of a palisade. The rustic wooden houses were built following some kind of circular pattern, but the further they got from the centre, the more distanced they were between each other and it was hard to tell if they were still part of the town or not.

 

Hisoka sighed and sat on a big rock. He placed the oil lamp that the policemen had given him next to him and stared at the shadowplay that the small flame casted. The moon was full but hidden behind the clouds left by a recent storm. It was a quiet night. The only sounds were those of the cold breeze through the tall grass and the footsteps of the policemen who were out on patrol. Then there was a different set of footsteps. They were dragged, slow, but steady footsteps. Hisoka lifted his head. A young man with dirty long hair and stained, worn-out clothes was approaching. His shoulders were hunched and his arms hanged at his sides. There was something odd, besides of his look. He could feel a strong killing intention oozing from this man, but also fear. The vampire stopped a couple of meters from the red-haired man.

 

"Goodnight!" Hisoka greeted without getting up.

 

The face of the vampire was of total disgust and his mouth and nose were twitching. He did not respond. Hisoka entwined his fingers under his chin.

 

"Are you the vampire of Boroa?" He cocked his head and smiled. "You are just a kid."

 

The vampire widened his eyes at the comment and launched an attack, but the figure of the red-haired man vanished in front of him and his fist touched nothing but the rock, smashing it to pieces.

 

"You still have a long way to go," the hunter said.

 

The vampire turned around to see Hisoka crouching and gazing at him.

 

"It's a shame I have to kill you."

 

The man's face was pure anger. He stood up and arched his back, his whole body went rigid and there was a sound of bones cracking as his hands shook and his fingers started to deform to turn into long claws. _Oh, is that why they said you were "beastlike?_ ”, he wondered.

 

The vampire threw himself again against the hunter, who seemed to avoid every blow without great difficulty. They kept this futile dance until Hisoka was once again at the place where he was sitting initially. He then activated his bungeegum.

 

"I know you can do better than that. Hey, catch!"

 

With a swift motion of his hand, the oil lamp went flying towards the vampire. He did catch it, but the oil spilt on his sleeves and they soon caught fire. The vampire howled in pain and tried to put out the flames in the dirt, but a strong punch sent him flying before he could.

 

The vampire was lying flat on his back, his arms still burning slowly. He growled and curled up into a shaky screaming ball.

 

"...Are you throwing a tantrum?"

 

The creature kept screaming and shaking and rolling from one side to the other until the flames were put out, then he ungracefully got on his hands and knees. He was panting. The vampire howled and sprinted at his opponent. His speed had increased considerably; so much that Hisoka could barely grasp the wrists of his enemy to stop them from closing around his head. His strength had also increased and the hunter found himself incapable of pulling the dangerous claws away from him. The clouds that were blocking the moonlight dissipated for a brief moment and Hisoka could see what was new. The face of the vampire was, indeed, deformed. His eyes were big and round and entirely black, and his nose and mouth had stretched into some kind of muzzle. He was growling and displaying a complete set of long, sharp, crooked teeth.

 

Instead of looking scared, the red-haired man opened his eyes wide and left his mouth open in a dumbfounded smile. The vampire was furious. He hated him; he hated this hunter so much.

 

The creature tried to bite Hisoka's face but he managed to arch back his torso enough to avoid the dangerous teeth; he used this opportunity to let go of the burnt wrists, crouch and back away. There was no fear in the vampire’s aura anymore, just plain rage. It was perfect.

 

"So that's why they said you looked like a beast!"

 

The response was a high-speed kick that dropped Hisoka to the ground, followed by a punch that the hunter stopped with a band of bungeegum, one end on each hand. The vampire had, however, another free hand, which he rose menacingly to strike again.

 

The shots of the policemen echoed in the night. Thankfully they had good aim and the bullets got to the monster before he could deal a crippling blow. They did not go through the skin, but it was enough to make the vampire wobble and lose concentration, giving the red-haired a chance to get away once more.

 

"Are you well?! - Do you need help? - Move over, we'll shoot it down!" shouted the policemen.

 

In his rage, the vampire forgot completely about Hisoka and dashed towards the new threat. They started recharging their pistols frantically, but there was no need. The monster never got to them; something pulled his leg and he fell. The vampire looked back ready to attack whatever was dragging him down but there was absolutely nothing. Nothing that he, or the officers, could see.

 

Hisoka pursed his lips; he loved the look of surprise on the faces of everyone (or the sudden stillness in the case of the transmuted vampire). He wanted to tell them. He wanted to say he was a magician and then enjoy their disbelief as he performed his next "magic trick"... But he did not. He was secretly in pain. The kick he had received was aching more than he thought, way too much more. The fight would have to end there.

 

The vampire got up. Ten cards flew through the cold breeze and sliced into his skin.

 

 

 

In the middle of the battlefield, the vampire had fallen to his knees. He was looking at his chest, trying to process that those were cards and not blades. He had been warned about something like this, once. _"Normal weapons will not hurt you... Fear those imbued with magic."_ He looked at the red-haired man who was now calmly walking towards him, one card on each hand. The fear took over him again. His mind was clear; this was the end. And that was the reason! That was why the lady in black had let him go away! Because she knew he would die anyway! The lady in black, who had appeared in front of him with two other vampires the night he had killed those policemen. She was thin and had long curly brown hair. Her outfit was completely black and it contrasted with her pale skin. She had told him he had broken the rules by killing so many people in plain view, that he had been too incautious and had exposed everyone. She told him that the punishment for this was death. He was terrified. He was young. It could not be over yet. The lady had told him _"Ah... You are so cute. I will give you a chance! There's a hunter bothering me. He’s a red-haired man who will be tomorrow in Boroa. Kill him. Kill him and I'll let you live. Aren't I merciful? Try to escape, however, and your sentence will be executed."_ Even then, he could feel the green eyes of the lady on him. This was the end. There was no escape.

 

The cards slit through his neck in a fraction of a second. The wound was deep and it started bleeding immediately. But the vampire was not dead yet. You could tell he was trying to stop it, but he was already coughing up blood. It was not a pretty sight.

“Oh… I’m sorry” Hisoka whispered as he repeated the motion. This time the head of the vampire fell to the ground. His body was way sturdier than those of past enemies. “That was meant to cut your head off.”

 

After that it was all celebration. The policemen called the people who were hiding and they burnt the corpse of the vampire in the square in the middle of town. There was no doctor to assess the wound on Hisoka, but he could still breathe properly so everyone agreed there should not be any broken bones. Still, they also agreed that it was better to take him to the closest city for professional medical advice.

“There are good doctors in Dawna. We will take you there. If we part in the morning, we should be there for lunchtime,” laughed the owner of the only cart and the owner of the only horse left in town.

Later on, the hunter was left alone so he could rest and the people gathered all together around the fire that was still burning. Hisoka made sure no one else was near and opened the window. He did not have to wait long.

“Dear friend! Are you hurt? I thought we wouldn’t be able to speak today.”

A pale woman with dark brown hair appeared from the shadows. She was wearing a black dress with a high collar, so her pale face and emerald eyes stood out in the middle of the darkness. Her tone was childish and concerned.

“Were you worried about me?” asked Hisoka imitating her.

“Yes, you were stupid and reckless.” answered the lady in black in a suddenly stern voice.

“Ha… I can’t argue with that. It seems I have to see a doctor.”

“Is it bad?” The lady pouted, using again her childish voice.

“I don’t know yet. There are no doctors here so they are taking me to Dawna.”

“Dawna! That’s good! It’s very close. Ah, I know what we should do. Wait for me there. Wait by the dock. I will find you. Then you will tell me if you are still able to help me.”

“And if I’m not?”

“Then that would be our goodbye.”

“Wouldn’t that be sad…”

 

 

Far away from land, the clipper kept its route. The sea was calm and expeditious. A butler went to the room of the assassin and informed him that they would be in Dawna by the the next night. He thanked her and she left. That was good news. Illumi kept reading _The Conquest of Queronea_. It was frankly boring.


	3. Dawna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah, sorry for any mistakes. English is not my first language and for some reason I struggled a lot with this chapter.  
> ...  
> Hisoka is, indeed, wearing [that outfit](http://41.media.tumblr.com/40e2c72b2632cd83b29ada4008772344/tumblr_ndjr2yTKoc1rebtzoo1_1280.jpg) from his halloween mobage card, minus the cane.  
> ...  
> Also, I'm not sure if the description of the port is clear. But [here](http://woottonbridgeiow.org.uk/towill/rydepier/Aerial%20view%20of%20Ryde%20pier.%20c1925.%20Towill%20collection.jpg) is the picture of the pier I used as inspo. Imagine that there are about... 4 smaller, simpler piers next to it. The beach is not wide and it's mostly rocks. For this same reason, there's a road bordering the coast line and connecting the piers.  
> ...  
> Ummm... I'll edit this one more time once I've slept and my head is clearer. But, ye ;u; I just, wanted this posted, now.  
> 'Kay hope you have fun, bye!

The men that offered to take Hisoka to Dawna were not joking about parting early in the morning. He reconsidered the offer when the two men appeared in his room at 5 am laughing and being painfully loud, but it was not like they would have accepted a refusal. They were ready before Hisoka was even awake and patiently waited for him to get up and eat something. During breakfast they kept talking about acquaintances that had been kicked by their animals and died. That was the breakfast chat: people who had died of perforated lungs and how slow and painful it was.

It was not that Hisoka was especially worried (he had been injured before and was already used to it), but a free ride was always welcome. There was nothing else for him in Boroa and if Claire said that Dawna was fine, then it was fine for him too. The dirt road to the city was uneven and the cart kept bumping, but the people of Boroa were kind enough to fill the back of the cart with hay and provide Hisoka of a woven blanket, so it was comfortable enough. He wrapped himself in the blanket and slept for almost the whole trip.

His sleep schedule had changed drastically ever since he started following Claire’s petitions. Their deal was simple: Claire informed Hisoka of a target and then he killed them. _“Just scum I was going to get rid off anyway”_ , she had said. Hisoka hated to admit it but for the moment he needed Claire. The reason was also simple: she was the only link between him and vampires. Not only because she was one herself, but because she always had information about other vampires that she wanted dead (if dead was the correct word, Hisoka was not sure). In the short time spent under her orders, he had meet more of these creatures than he had been able to find on his own in his entire life.

The hunter's real goal in life was to find strong opponents. Humans, beasts, there was no difference to him. Even though  he had no preference, there was something about these limbo creatures, blend of human and monster, which had piqued his interest. Unfortunately, vampires were the most elusive creatures he had met in the whole Earth. Before meeting Claire, he had encountered just three, and was able to fight only one. Three in 28 years. After meeting this informant the number rose to 14, but still, he did not feel he had enough information to start hunting them on his own.

It was with all of this in mind that, after a short visit to the emergency room at Dawna’s hospital and saying goodbye to the attentive men of Boroa, he went to the dock and waited for Claire once more.

 

The city of Dawna was born as a colony of the Pritish Empire. It started as a humble port but as time passed the city around it grew rapidly in size, wealth and population. The streets were always crowded and that day was no different. Hisoka went to the pier to avoid the mob and watch the sunset, but the amount of docked ships was such that it was hard to see behind them. Dawna’s port consisted of a wide pleasure pier that extended 600 meters into the sea and a series of smaller working piers at the left side of it. All the structures were connected by a wide timber promenade that outlined the entire shore. Hisoka walked along this pathway until he reached the end of it, then sat down at the edge and enjoyed the last moments of sunlight reflected on the dark blue waters. The beach on that side of the coast was almost inexistent, large rocks covered in molluscs and green algae replaced the sand. Hisoka looked down at the foam created by the lashing of the waves against the rocks for a while and when he looked up again he noticed a blurry black spot on the horizon. It was a ship, most likely a clipper. The ship had moored far away from shore and a small boat was coming from its direction.

_Why isn’t it going to a pier? There’s still space for such a tiny boat._

Hisoka stood up and observed attentively as the boat came closer. There were three people inside: two young ladies and a tall figure with their face hidden under a hooded cloak.

“Do you need help?” Hisoka asked loudly when they were close to the rocky shore.

The ladies looked at the hooded figure, but none of them replied to Hisoka. Instead, they kept rowing towards a plain surface. It was dangerous; nothing assured them that a sudden strong wave wouldn’t throw them against a sharp rock, hidden under the water, or that once on the flat rock they wouldn’t slip on the algae and fall into the sea. However, they managed to get their vessel close enough so that one of the girls and the mysterious person could jump at the plain surface. Hisoka whistled at the daredevil act. It was completely unnecessary, but he had to admit that they had guts and that their landing was flawless. Once on the promenade, the tall figure pulled back the black hood of their cloak; it was a young man with porcelain skin and eyes as dark as ink, his hair was black as well and was tied up in a ponytail. The man looked around scanning the place and his imposing eyes barely seemed to register Hisoka. Afterwards, he nodded at the lady who was still on the boat, and she started rowing back to the clipper.

Hisoka’s eyes were glistening with curiosity. Both girls had the same outfit and were in charge of rowing. Their boat was going towards what seemed to be a clipper, vessels mainly used by merchants. _Maybe they are servants of the clipper’s captain?_ _Why land here, with such secrecy?_ _Are they perhaps the servants of an opium dealer? A gun dealer? A fugitive?_ The long-haired man’s presence was so tenuous that Hisoka suspected that if he were not right in front of him he would have never noticed the man was there.

_Oh...Maybe it’s intentional._

The couple started walking away, but turned around their heads alarmed when the red-haired man activated Zetsu and erased his presence completely.

 _Ah, they noticed_. Hisoka could feel his heart beating faster under the alert look of the strangers. _So, they_ _are nen users… disembarking stealthily away from the rest of the ships_. _Interesting_. He took off his hat, and politely bowed down.

“Good afternoon.” He cooed.

It was Illumi’s time to analyze Hisoka; a pale man, with messy short red hair and golden eyes, a reddish brown long jacket and a giant black bow adorning his neck. His clothes were untidy and somewhat dirty. At first he had thought he was just a drunk or a beggar, but his gestures were graceful and the way he had erased his presence was that of someone with nen knowledge… But it did not matter. If he was a spy or informant, he would have already tried to run back to the city to warn his target about his arrival. Since he had not, he was not important.

“…Goodnight.” Illumi answered in almost a whisper.

They had no time to waste, so Illumi continued walking. His companion, however, did not follow. Her body was tense and ready to react at any sign of movement from the red-haired stranger.

“That was a really dangerous stunt back there! May I ask why you did that? Don’t get me wrong, I’m admired, but I’m also curious why you’d risk drowning instead of disembarking at a pier.”

The girl remained silent.

“Ah! Perhaps you don’t know how the port of Dawna works? It’s open for everyone. Are you new here? Do you need a guide?”

The long-haired man stopped. “Ferrer”

She did not need more words. Ferrer quickly turned on her heels and caught up with the man. Hisoka crossed his arms and watched as the pair walked farther and farther away. _He’s the one in charge_. The hunter was in a bit of a predicament. He did not want to let them leave, but Claire would surely never forgive him if he missed their meeting.

_Oh well… I still have to walk this road to get back to the piers and the centre of town..._

Hisoka waited a couple of seconds and followed after them. This was, of course, noted by the assassin and his butler.

“Master…” Ferrer looked back discreetly. The weird man had an insufferable smile on his face. “He’s following us.”

“I know.”

The butler turned her head again and threw a loathing gaze at their stalker.

“Ferrer, what would you do if a stray dog growls at you?”

The lady frowned, her brown eyes still fixed on the threatening stranger.  “…Ignore it until he goes away.”

“And kill it only if it hinders your job.” Illumi completed. “Now focus… Let’s run, we will turn at the first entrance to the city.”

They speeded up their pace and Hisoka did as well. He was undeniably chasing them now. He could not help it, the couple was incredibly fast and Hisoka wondered if they were as good fighting as they were in athletics. He needed to be faster, just a little faster and he would-

“Hisoka! There you are! Where the hell do you think you are going?!”

A familiar voice yelling at him made him stop. It was Claire, dressed from head to toe in black and swinging a parasol menacingly.

“How dare you make me wait for you? Make me look for you? Unbelievable! Outrageous! ”

Hisoka ignored her and skimmed over the surroundings. There was no sign of the mysterious couple anymore.

“You are trying my patience, I swear... Are you listening to me?”

“Yes! Yes… I beg your pardon.”

The woman sighed and softly tapped him on the arm with her parasol. “Listen, I have good news for you, but first let’s go somewhere more private. Follow me.”

 

The place was a tavern inside an old building. There were no signs outside and all the windows were nailed shut. It was far from the stylish pubs that were popular those days. In fact, most of the clients seemed as old and battered as the establishment. Claire wiped her seat with a napkin several times before sitting down. Hisoka chuckled and took the seat in front of her.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, it’s just that this place doesn’t seem fit for a lady like yourself. It’s like watching a rose in a pigsty.”

She seemed pleased. “So, how did your medical appointment go?”

Hisoka had been checked by a doctor, the Boroa men made sure of that. He was not in danger, but he was not in perfect shape either. Basically, Hisoka interpreted the doctor’s words as ‘as long as you are not coughing blood, you are fine’.

“Oh, it was nothing serious. A couple of days and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Oh! Excellent!” Claire nodded softly a few times and waited a few seconds. Then, she took the parasol from the side of her chair and poked Hisoka on the affected side of his torso, making him let out a short growl of pain. “You liar!”

Hisoka scoffed. “Fine, a week…”

Claire held up her parasol again and Hisoka put his hands in front of him. “Really! Put that down.” She did as told, but kept staring at him suspiciously. Hisoka tried to change the subject. “Why are you even carrying that umbrella? It’s not going to rain.”

“It is not an umbrella… It’s a parasol.” The vampire condescendingly explained. “But how would you know the difference? Look at yourself, you are a disaster. Who knows what slump you crawled out of.”

Hisoka could not help but frown lightly. He was used to people trying to insult him, but Claire seemed to have a special talent to get on his nerves. Still, he wouldn’t give her a chance to argue.

“So, what were those ‘good news’?”

“Ah! Yes! Honey, you are very lucky today… What would you say if I told you I have a way to heal you _and_ to make you even stronger at the same time?”

“…I would say ‘Honey, you talk like one of those charlatans that travel from town to town selling hair-growth tonics and other scams.’”

She faked a laugh and ignored the retort. “This is the new deal: I take you officially under my wing. Our routine remains the same. I point, you kill. The difference? I will grant you power. You’ll become stronger than you already are, and you’ll be able to face stronger opponents. My gain? Well, just as I said when we first met, I’m a lady; I don’t get my hands dirty. You doing my job is all the gain I could ask for! Ah! You will keep receiving a monetary reward, but this time, the stronger the target, the higher the reward! Isn’t that marvellous?”

Hisoka tilted his head. “It is. That’s a wonderful offer. Too wonderful, I’d say. What’s the catch?”

“Nothing! Well… There is something you have to do, but you don’t strike me as someone who would have a problem with it.”

Claire made a signal to the bartender and he brought an empty cup to their table. Without hesitation, she slit her wrist with one of her pointy nails and let her blood fill the cup. Hisoka looked around but no one seemed to care about the strange act. She smirked at the now wary gaze of her companion.

“It’s fine. Everyone here is my friend. Why else would I come to a place like this? Now, drink this.” She handed Hisoka the cup, but he did not take it. “You are so cute when you are suspicious. Trust me, this is a rare gift, many would kill for it. It won’t make you like me, I promise. The only thing this cup will do is grant you power. So choose… Drink this and accept my deal, or leave and never hear from me again.”

 

 

Not far from them, Illumi and his butler were occupied with their own mission.

A thick fog was starting to cover the streets of Dawna and only the brave women who worked at night and their clients stayed outside. None of them paid attention to the people in front of the two storey house, not even when they kicked down the front door and disappeared inside.

Illumi and his butler were not being awaited this time. The pins cut through the air silently and the men fell to the floor before they could grab their guns. He did not bother with the rest that came running from the second floor, he left them to Ferrer. Illumi walked right past them and went upstairs. After weeks of chasing false leads, he had finally found his target. The man was a simple banker, but he was a mortal and when a mortal somehow knew that an assassin was coming for them, they fled and hid like mice. This one had offered a long and tiresome chase, which was the reason why they had disembarked so far from the centre of the city. The possibility of someone recognizing Illumi, his butlers, or the clipper was not high, but still, the Zoldyck wanted to be extra careful and end it all that night.

The old banker sunk into his couch and dropped his glass of whisky when he saw the assassin entering his room. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out, ten pins pierced into his head made sure of that. As simple as that, the assassin’s job was done.

It was hard to admit, but Illumi was disappointed. Although chasing a target that had the advantage of being able to move around at any time of the day was challenging, once Illumi found them it was game over. He did not understand why, but lately his father kept giving him just mortal targets, saving vampires and other monsters to himself and grandfather Zeno. Illumi made a mental note to ask his father a more entertaining mission next time.

When Illumi went back downstairs, Ferrer was the only one left standing. The contract did not include cleaning up, so they were all set.

“It’s done.” Illumi announced with a smile. “We can go- No! Wait.”

Illumi suddenly remembered something very, very important. _Killua’s book_. Now that the banker deal was over, he had plenty of time left. This was the perfect opportunity to take care of his brother’s request.

“I have something personal pending so go ahead and tell Nanker to get the boat to the shore again and wait… Oh, actually, wait by a pier this time. It will be much more comfortable.”

Ferrer nodded. “How long should we wait for you?”

Due to an order given by Kikyo, all butlers were obliged to ask Illumi this question. When alone on a mission, Illumi should set a deadline for him to reunite with his butler. If he had not done so by that time, the butler should forget about the mission and search for him to make sure he was fine and that daylight would not find him in a vulnerable situation. Illumi hated this measure, felt it was patronizing. Ferrer and Nanker were well aware of this and, since their loyalty belonged to Illumi before Kikyo, they asked merely as routine and kept any disobedience hidden from the mission reports.

“Hmm…” Illumi pondered how long it would take him to cover the whole city. _If I try to look for a bookstore or a library, it could take me hours... In fact, there is no certainty that this place even has one of them…_ “Tell me, did you see any bookstore or library on our way here?”

“No, sir.”

Illumi tapped his lips with his index. It didn’t necessarily have to be a bookstore. A school, orphanage or children’s ward could also have books that he could borrow permanently.

“Ah, this could take a while... Just wait.”

Ferrer bowed down. “Yes, sir.”

 

 

“Here. I wrote down your next target’s name. They live somewhere in this city, but you have to find them on your own. You have a month to finish them. Take your time. I won’t come back before even if you manage to kill them earlier. We will meet at this same tavern. Ah, I don’t think it’s necessary to say that failure is not an option now, is it? I didn’t think so. Good luck my dear! See you soon.”

Hisoka stood in the middle of the street and took a deep breath. He let the freezing air fill his lungs and then pressed his sides with his hands. There was no pain anymore. He was healed.

The red-head tried opening the door to the tavern again, but it was locked from inside. “Go away”, a voice said. Apparently he was not welcomed without Claire. _Well, guess I’ll have to find someone in the streets_.

He wanted to test this new strength that Claire had promised, but he had to do it properly. However, so far it seemed that nobody outside that night was what he needed. Busy sex workers and their clients, the occasional drunk that could barely walk a straight line; none of them seemed as if they could stand against him for enough time.

Hisoka walked and walked until fine drops of mist adorned his coat and hat. _No luck. Maybe I should just go to another bar? A normal one? Go inside and start a fight. That could work. Now, where did I see taverns before? I think it was close to the port… It’s not that late, even if there are no bars, there must be some sailors hanging around. One of them must be up for a challenge_.

The dim warm light coming from the windows of the buildings close to the port indicated that he was right about the pubs still being open. He would have to go with that, since the fog had become so dense and cold that it seemed all sailors were taking refuge in their respective ships.

He was about to start walking to one of the pubs when he saw it. It was merely a shadow, glanced at out of the corner of his eye, but still he turned back to take a better look at it. The fog made it difficult to tell, but that was clearly the silhouette of a person, possibly wearing a coat, or a cloak. It reminded him of the man with the big black eyes. Of course, it probably was just wishful thinking. What were the odds? The person did not seem to be accompanied by any angry girl either. No, it could not be him. Despite repeating himself this, Hisoka ran towards the blurry figure.

The stranger turned around immediately at the sound of steps on the humid wooden floor, and the sight of the memorable eyes made Hisoka raise his eyebrows in disbelief. It _was_ him.

Illumi recognized him and raised his eyebrows as well. The red-head stopped a few meters from the stranger. He was so happy; he could not just attack him. How rude. No, he would talk to him first.

“My my my! What a coincidence! Who would have thought we would meet again, and in such a place!”

Illumi’s face remained impassive. The stranger sounded friendly, but the aura surrounding him revealed completely different intentions.

“Ah! You must not remember me. Well, we never really introduced ourselves.” Hisoka took of his hat and flipped it in the air before bowing down, much more dramatically than the first time. “My name’s Hisoka, and I’m a magician.”

“…A magician?”

“Indeed.” A deck of cards appeared in the hands of Hisoka. “Would you like to see a trick?”

 “I’m not interested.” Illumi turned around and added without facing the magician, “I’m not interested in fighting you either. Goodbye.”

The assassin was not naïve enough to believe that these words would stop the stranger; he was prepared for him to attack nonetheless. However, the offensive Hisoka chose took him by surprise. Illumi felt himself being pulled from the back of his neck, as if reeled by an invisible fishing rod. He untied the knot of his cloak and let it be pulled away from him.

“Good reflexes~” The magician said with a smirk as he held the cloak.

 _No way._ Illumi examined the man carefully. There was a thin line of pink aura going from the man’s hand to the back of the garment. _When? How could I not notice?_

“Will you fight me? Or am I going to have to keep undressing you?”

Illumi pretended not to hear that. “Give me my cloak back.”

“Make me.”

It would have been so easy, so easy to just plunge towards him and scoop his heart out, but something had fallen from the coat and it was more important than anything else.

“Mm?” Hisoka leant down to pick the book that had fallen down, but never got to reach it.

The long-haired man was so fast, Hisoka did not notice him launching a kick until he was on his back on the humid floor. The magician quickly stood up again and faced Illumi; he was standing casually and checking the estate of the book as if Hisoka was not there.

“Ah! What a relief, it’s all good.” The assassin said to himself aloud.

Maybe it was the fog that was making him see things, but as Hisoka threw his sharp cards at the long-haired man, he could have sworn that he had turned into shadows. The assassin had not disappeared, no. He had become something else, something that seemed both corporeal and incorporeal at once, and had slithered away. The magician shook this image of his head and picked up the cards stuck on the floor. A quick scan of the place with En confirmed it: how he did it was not important, the important thing was that the long-haired man had managed to flee.

 

The following day, Hisoka asked everyone he could find about the long-haired man’s clipper, yet no one seemed to have noticed the ship or its passengers. The cloak was not much help either. The only information about his previous owner was the initials ‘I. Z.’ sewn with golden thread on the interior. That was all he had left: a vague description of two strangers and two initials sewn on a cloak. The black-haired man was virtually untraceable. Despite this, Hisoka still was in a good mood. Claire’s target was still hiding somewhere in Dawna. Besides, he now had a new cloak, and it fit him perfectly.


	4. Home! x Rat Friend! x Politics!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this isn't much. I should be studying ; ; I really should...  
> There are some terms that could be confusing. Although they aren't that important now, I'll explain them in the notes at the end.  
> As usual, please forgive any mistake ; ;  
>  **Lastly... Thanks to the people who have stopped by, ; ; I didn't expect people to actually read this... I'm very happy...**

“Aniki, did you steal this book?”

“What do you mean?”

“The first page has a stamp that says it is property of Dawna’s Orphanage.” Killua showed his older brother the page.

“Oh! I didn’t notice. They must have donated the book to the store.” Illumi lied. The orphanage was the first thing he had found and their small library was of rather good taste and quality, so he decided to end his search there.

The little Zoldyck hummed and kept leafing through his gift. “…Thank you.” He said in a very low voice, not bothering to lift his face from the book on his hands.

A smile crossed the eldest brother’s face. “…If you make me a list with Alluka’s likes and interests, next time I could search for books with those specific topics.”

“Would you really do that?!” The silver-haired boy looked up in joy, then in panic after realizing he had just confirmed the book was actually for Alluka.

“Just don’t let anyone know. If our parents find out-”

“I know, I know!” Killua interrupted in his usual rowdy tone. But he was smiling. He grabbed the book very tightly.

“Thank you.” He said again, this time loud and clear.

 “You are welcome.”

The brothers smiled at each other in silence, but the moment of peace did not last long. The fraternal atmosphere shattered when both felt the unmistakeable presence of their mother running at full speed towards Killua’s room. She opened the door with such strength that it quivered against the stone wall.

“Kids! Quick! Both of you! To the white parlor! Milluki has an important announcement to make!”

“Milluki?” Illumi asked.

“Yes! He has finally made it!”

Illumi saw Killua’s smile drop to the ground when Kikyo said this, but she did not seem to notice or care.

“What did he do?”

“Electricity,” answered his little brother instantly. “Milluki was trying to find a way to provide constant electricity to our house.”

“And he succeeded! Isn’t that wonderful? Now we can start your training, Killua.”

That was the reason for Killua’s sudden mood change. Their parents had talked about “electricity resistance” training in the past, but it was nothing concrete. The invention was not fully developed anywhere in the world, so not even the wealthy family of assassins had access to it. However, Milluki had gotten some especial interest in that research and therefore devoted himself completely to it. The second oldest brother was a lousy mercenary, but his skills as inventor could not be denied. He shared correspondence and managed to pay a few visits to numerous engineers and inventors abroad, hardly taking a rest from his studies. Illumi did not understand why his brother was more inclined to the world of science than of assassination, but was proud of him this opportunity. Killua was clearly not. His face was of total devastation.

“Shouldn’t I try it first?” Illumi suggested. “We have never tried the effects of electricity before; if it has the same power as lightning it could be dangerous for Killua.”

“Don’t worry, darling. Your father already tried it and he was alright. He will talk about that later at the announcement.”

Killua’s eyes were now as dead as Illumi’s.

“I assume the rest of us will also have to follow this training?”

“Yes! But this baby has the priority.” Kikyo took Killua by his shoulders and squeezed them. “But as I said before, we will explain all of this later. Now, dress up! I want to see you all in your best outfits!”

The mother started clapping, signalling Illumi to leave the room so Killua could change. Illumi offered some last words of encouragement before stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

“I know you’ll do great, Killu.”

The silver-haired boy turned his face away without responding. Illumi just sighed. It was not unusual for his little brother not to show enthusiasm for training. Illumi did not worry much. It was probably just immaturity. One day he would grow up and understand that everything had been for his own good.

 

* * *

 

 

After almost three weeks, Hisoka had memorized the streets of Dawna so well he could walk around them with his eyes closed. When he finally found his target, the chase did not last long. The vampire hung upside down wrapped in a cocoon of Bungee Bum, too scared to fight back.

“Goodnight, Ms Millareu! Excuse my manners, but I have been hunting you for a long time and I just can’t take the risk of letting you run away.”

The vampire was now petrified and confused. How did this hunter know her name? How was he doing this trick?

“…H-how?” was, however, all she managed to utter.

“Mm? How did I find you? Well, a mixture of patience, perseverance, and a lot of walking. Mostly walking, actually. You were very hard to find.”

The hunter sat leisurely on top of a wooden barrel in front of the hanging vampire and her eyes lit up with hope. If he was not killing her right away, maybe she could still bargain her way out of this. However, the undead was betrayed by her nerves and her words came out too fast, broken, mixed with the native tongue of those lands.

“Ms, calm down. You’re not making sense.” Hisoka’s tone was soothing, but his expression reflected he was enjoying her panic.

The vampire breathed in deeply as she carefully thought of her next words. They could be her last. “Please, don’t kill me. Stop this magic. I have done nothing wrong.”

“Magic, you say? Is that how you call it here?”

“What do you mean, Sir?”

Hisoka’s face darkened for a moment then went back to his usual wide grin. “Let’s play a game. Tell me what card suit I’m making and I’ll let you down.” Then, with a tone that let clear he was not joking, he added, “Be wrong and I’ll kill you.”

Hisoka lifted his left index in the air and projected a pink heart. The vampire started wriggling frantically in the air.

“What? There’s nothing!”

“First try… You got three. Come on. Don’t waste them”

“What?! That’s a finger! Sir!”

“There goes your second try.”

“No!! What game is this?! SIR!”

The vampire then proceeded to yell words in her native language, which Hisoka interpreted both as insults and as proof that she could not see a thing.

“Ah… You are no different than the rest.” Hisoka sighed. “It’s a shame you all have to die without ever reaching even a pinch of your true potential.”

“WAIT! Wait! Let’s talk! Information! I know! I know things!”

Hisoka tilted his head and took a moment to consider the offer. He was certainly not interested in killing this puny creature anymore, but if he could get some information from her, he could pretend he still was.

“Did you see a man in a black cloak a few weeks ago?”

“You have to be more specific. Many people walk this city every night, Sir.”

“He was wearing this black cloak.” Hisoka signalled the cloak he was wearing. “He lent it to me and now I want to return it, but I don’t know where to find him.”

“His name?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that he had long black hair and was part of the crew of a clipper. He was also accompanied by a short, angry girl. I believe he was one of your people, seeing how he disappeared by doing this ‘woosh’ thing…”

“Woosh thing?”

“Yes, it’s hard to explain… It was as he disappeared in black smoke, yet not quite... It was as he had turned into shadows.”

“…That’s still not much information, but I can ask. If you let me go, I can ask around.”

Hisoka lifted an eyebrow at the offer.

“I don’t lie! I swear! Ask any Kindred! What they need to know, Millareu always finds out.”

The magician softly lowered the vampire to the ground and dissolved the pink nen trap. “Ms Millareu, for your own sake, I really hope you are not lying.”

“I’m not! Prove me. Don’t you have something else you want to know?”

The vampire sat down on her folded legs in front of her hunter. The floor was as filthy as could be expected of the floor of an alley next to a bar by the port, but she did not seem to mind. Hisoka hummed and scratched his chin. The things he wanted to know were actually so many that he did not know where to begin. He decided to start with something more personal.

“What did you do to get a price on your head?”

“Me? Nothing. I don’t do anything. I bother no one. I feed only when I need to and I have never drained anyone completely.”

He whistled. “Well, aren’t you a saint! There’s got to be something, if not I would not have been hired to hunt you down.”

“Maybe… I talked too much.”

 _That was probably it_ , thought Hisoka, considering how easily she had offered any kind of information in exchange for her unlife.

“Sir… What is your name?” The vampire’s voice was sweet and soft, contrasting completely with the horrendous state of her deformed face.

“My name is not important.”

She swallowed. “Oh… I was asking because, since you know my name…” The redhead seemed still pensive trying to decide what he wanted to ask, so she continued. “I was very surprised that you knew my name… Most of my friends are long gone… So I thought no one knew my real name anymore…”

“Ah, my employer gave it to me.” Hisoka stated absentmindedly.

“…May I know the name of the one who hired you?”

“Claire.”

The vampire jolted at the name. “L-long dark brown hair? Black clothes from head to toe?”

Hisoka looked at her with new curiosity. “Eternally attending funerals, yes, that sounds like my Claire.”

“Oh no…”

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?! There’s no way I can escape… They are going to kill me anyway…”

“Who’s going to kill you? As far as I know Claire is too fussy to dirty her hands.” The creature in front of him was such a shaky mess, he felt sad for her. “And, regarding myself, I must confess that I’m not interested in killing you. I promise. Attacking someone who can’t defend themselves is not my idea of fun.”

“You don’t understand… You have no idea who hired you, do you? That Claire is a well-known Camarilla pig. If-” She stopped, she was going to say that if he did not kill her, he would be in trouble too, but that would not be very wise. Even though she was free now, even though he had just claimed to have spared her life, her experience told her to beware. The hunter was dangerous. She knew because of his eyes. They glowed in the dark with the same intensity as those of big felines. He was a mortal, but one to beware. “If she was ordered to kill me, then it’s just a matter of time.”

“Wait. What was that that you said before? ‘Camarilla’? What does that mean?”

Millareu went quiet. It had been her loose lips that had gotten her in trouble in the first place. _Then again_ , she pondered, _I can’t get in worse trouble_. “The Camarilla is a group of arrogant, unjust, coward vampires that proclaimed themselves rulers of everybody.” She sighed. It was nice to be able to finally vent about the organization she was supposed to support. “If these assholes want someone gone, they won’t stop until their will is done. I’ve heard that sometimes they’ve gone as far as to chase Kindred across whole continents.”

“Oh…” Hisoka crossed his arms. “Across continents? Are they that many, or are they just a regular group of highly skilled vampires?”

She shrugged. “They claim to be both. I’m not sure, but, the fact remains that they have enough skilled people to hunt down their own kind. If-” She was going to warn him again. She could not help it. She always talked too much.

Hisoka hummed. Claire had refused to speak openly about her superiors, but based on their conversations, Hisoka had deduced they had to be of some importance. However, he never expected her group to be _that_ important.

Millareu observed the mortal in front of her. He seemed young. She could feel the life pumping through his veins. He was also strong, very strong. The sight of his eyes enraptured her, made her travel back in time. They reminded her of when she still was a mortal, of the time when, one silent night, she had encountered face to face one of the most dangerous animals in the region: a mountain tiger. She had never been so afraid yet so mesmerized in her whole life. The tiger eyes were golden, bright, so intense that once you met them you could not look away, and most importantly, unbelievably beautiful. This hunter had the same eyes, the same essence. Millareu sighed. There was no bargain that could get her out of this mess now. She would talk.

“Mister”, she interrupted the redhead’s thoughts with a feeble voice, “you seem smart. You must have realized by now that if you don’t kill me, you’ll be in trouble as well.”

Of course he knew. There was no way Claire would let him go away as simply as she had said. However, Hisoka allowed her to believe he did not and widened his eyes in feigned surprise. He let her continue.

“If that pig finds out you didn’t follow her orders, she’ll kill you… Or ask someone else to kill you, most probably. Mister… If you really want to spare my pathetic life, then I beg you to consider the following. Run away.” She gulped. “If you want, I could try to help you, as a sign of gratitude for sparing me... I promise to do my best to get you as far as possible from her and her nest of snakes. Of course, you don’t have to stay with me; it will be just for the trip. What do you say?”

“Oh, don’t worry. There won’t be any need for any of us to escape. I’m facing Claire,” he stated immediately.

“What?”

“I’m facing Claire. I’ll fight her.”

“Mister, I don’t think you understand.”

“Ah, Ms Millareu, it’s you who don’t understand. You may be terrified of Claire and her friends, but I’m not. Truth is I have been waiting for this opportunity ever since I met that woman.”

She parted her lips to try to bring some sense back to the weird man again, but there was such a hungry look on his face, that she knew it would be futile.

“…If that’s true, then, I hope you win,” she decided to add instead.

“I know I can’t ask you to trust me, since we are mere strangers, so I won’t. Instead, I will offer you a deal. Help me find the owner of this black cloak. I still have about a week left before meeting your friend Claire. If you help me, I will make sure you board a ship safely the night I meet her. Whether I win or not, it won’t affect you. You’ll be miles away, sailing the blue seas, on your way to new land.”

Millareu blinked several times digesting this man’s words. “And if I can’t find anything?”

“Oh, that would be sad, but it’s a possibility I’m prepared for. Don’t misunderstand; I’m not forcing you to accept this deal. It’s entirely up to you. You could even try to board a ship as soon as this conversation is over, I don’t mind. You’re free. I’m letting you go to catch another, bigger fish.” He ended with a wide smile.

The vampire tightened her fists with such force that her nails drew blood from the patchy grey skin. She was shaking. Common sense was telling her to escape; anger and pride were telling her to try to attack, but- She could not do either. How could she? Ever since she had been transformed into the deformed monster she was now, no one had been able to stare at her and not let their disgust show. This man, this strange man with ominous eyes, not only was able to look at her naturally, as if she was another simple mortal, but most importantly, he seemed to truly be planning the death of her enemy.

“So, what do you say, Ms Millareu?”

She closed her eyes and breathed out. Even though the redhead was pronouncing her name wrong, it sounded so exquisite to hear ears. She rejoiced in the sound. How many times had he called her by her name that night? She was not sure, all she knew was that it was the first time someone called her by her true name it in 87 years. No mocking nickname, no ‘sewer rat’, ‘ship vermin’, or any kind of variant, no… Just her own name, caressing her ears by the melodious voice, after so many years…

“Mister, let’s meet at this same alley tomorrow. I’ll find your man, and I’ll help you however I can to defeat that viper.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hisoka was waiting calmly outside the clandestine bar when Claire showed up. Thanks to his new, less cryptic informant, he knew that this vampire never travelled alone. He had never realized. It was both troubling and exciting. Exciting because this meant this unknown vampire was more skilled than Claire, troubling because Millareu warned him that if he did not manage to find them and they went back to this “Camarilla” to inform them, they would send a group far more powerful than Claire. He recalled Millareu’s words. “ _Please, stop looking so… excited. It won’t be a fair fight. They will cheat. I assure you. If it’s a proper fight you are looking for, you’d better take them one on one._ ”

She walked over to him, her face was unusually serious.

“Your deadline has ended. Did you manage to finish your task?”

“You know… I always wondered how you were able to know when I had successfully finished someone.” A deck of cards appeared on the hands of the redhead and he started flushing them. “First I thought that there was some kind of signal that activated itself when one of you bit the dust, something collective. Then I realized it was more probable that you just followed me around in the shadows… But if you are asking me this, then I guess that’s not the answer either.”

“Where are you going with this?” Claire said, stiffening.

“Hm? No need to get so tense. Let me rephrase. You have no idea what happened to my target, do you, darling?”

She did not. In reality, it was her hidden associate who was in charge of finding out about the performance of her underlings. For short missions he followed them. For long missions, as this one, he did not, and relied on the local web of informants instead. “No, I do not know what it is of her today, but I do know that the she was very much alive the previous weeks… Is she still?”

“Technically, she stopped being alive a long time ago.”

“Oh, you know what I mean.”

“I did find her. She was a tiny woman, hunched, her face falling off; a truly unfortunate creature. Or well, maybe somewhat fortunate. Before I could get to her, she was snatched away by some kind of rescue team. I believe they were also your kind, they called themselves something, but it was a weird name…”

“What?! What was it? What did they call themselves?”

Hisoka pretended to be remembering. Claire was buying the lie completely. “Sabbath, I believe.”

Claire raised both hands to her head and suppressed a scream as she pulled her hair. Hisoka was not sure he had understood completely what Millareu’s lie meant, but if it managed to be this successful, he had to take off his hat to the fellow trickster.

“I didn’t go after them because, since I’m a good underling”, he continued, “I decided not to act against an unknown group without your approval.”

The vampire was biting her nails, lost in her own thoughts. Hisoka scanned the place around them, if there was someone else with her, they had to be close. He could not detect anyone, though. That was problematic. He had to find a way to make them appear.

“Forget it.” She said suddenly. “It can’t be helped. Stand up. Let’s chat inside.”

Hisoka stood up. It was better to talk inside the building. If her assistant was waiting there, Hisoka had a higher chance of killing them before they escaped. _Find the hidden vampire, kill them, then kill Claire_. He could manage.

“This is new. Are you a thief now?”

“Eh?”

Claire took the fabric of the black cloak Hisoka was wearing and rubbed it between her fingers. “This is a good quality piece of clothing. I can tell. Did you steal it? If you are in such need, tell me and I will give you some money.”

Hisoka’s eyes beamed. The cloak, maybe she knew who it belonged to. It was a shot in the dark, but since Millareu’s search had not been as good as expected, he had to try. “You are half right. I did take it from someone else, a vampire actually, but I didn’t steal it. He just let it fall to the ground.”

“Is that so? Who was he? One of the Sabbath rescuers?”

“No. It was a long-haired man, with hair and eyes as black as coal. He was accompanied by a young girl, a butler probably. I believe he must have really liked this cloak.” Hisoka took off the cloak to show her the golden letters. “See? He even embroidered his initials.”

“I see, how curious.”

“Would you happen to know something about this man?”

“Why would I? There are so many like me in the world, even _I_ can’t know them all.”

“But maybe you do. He must have been a wealthy man, seeing as he had butlers of his own, and even a ship. Please, try to remember.”

Claire sighed and took the cloak.

“A young man, wealthy, long black hair, big black eyes, void like a starless sky,” Hisoka repeated. “His initials are those … His stay was short. He could have been on a business meeting… Maybe he was a hunter like me… Maybe even a hitman.”

Claire raised a hand and signalled the redhead to stop talking. The last words had alarmed her noticeably. “It can’t be…”

“What can’t be?”

“It can’t be…” She repeated to herself. “They’re so strictly careful…” The woman took the fabric to her nose and sniffed it, then pulled it away dramatically. “Damn it! It reeks of you!”

“Ah, must be because I’ve been wearing it.”

The woman looked like she was about to throw a tantrum again, but instead she took a deep breath and whistled. Hisoka widened his eyes as a tall figure emerged from the shadows behind Claire. _Finally_. He tensed up. This was the perfect chance to fight his boss _and_ assistant, but, as it turned out, it could also be a chance to find out the identity of the long-haired man. To be frank, he had been willing to let that matter go, but if this individual was so important that Claire knew him, maybe it was worth to keep on searching.

“What do you think, my dear?” She asked her companion. “Do you know anyone who could find the owner of this cloak?”

The new vampire was frighteningly silent. They made no noise, even when they lifted pair of boney grey hands from under the ragged garments to examine the cloak. The strange assistant looked down to the piece of clothing, or that was what Hisoka assumed, since the whole head of the vampire was covered in dry-blood-stained rags. After a moment of deliberation, they nodded slowly.

“Ah! Marvelous! Thank you! Thank you so much!” Claire yelled as she pressed kisses to the dirty rags of her assistant.

“Excuse me. Are you taking away my cloak?” Hisoka intervened.

“Aw, don’t look so offended, honey. This could mean good news for all of us.” She was beaming with excitement. “If this cloak really belongs to one of them, if I can find them…”

“I’m sorry, but I’m a bit lost here. Who exactly are you talking about?”

“A Zoldyck.”

“A Zoldyck? …Wait a minute. _The_ Zoldycks?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“I thought they were a myth.”

“Don’t be silly. They are as real as you and me.”

“But there are no verified records or photographs of any of them.”

“Neither from my kindred, yet here I stand.”

Hisoka took a hand to his chin. “What do you want with them?”

“Ah… That’s a story we should discuss somewhere else. Come. Let’s find a place where the walls don’t have ears.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kindred: Just the way vampires refer to their own kind.  
> Camarilla: The largest sect. Extended around the whole world, yet focused on certain regions. It aims to represent the whole vampire society and to mantain their existence a secret from mortals.  
> Sabbat: Big sect as well. They are basically the opposition. :^)  
>  ~~I hate politics.~~


	5. First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hisoka is very lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _"Once the Kindred breaks her vessel’s skin with her fangs, that vessel no longer resists the vampire (if he did in the first place). Indeed, the ecstasy caused by the vampire’s bite is called the Kiss, and it engenders as much exquisite, subtly painful pleasure in vampires as it does in mortals."_  
>  -V:tM 20th Aniv. Ed. (p.269)
> 
> (You can also find more info about the VtM definition [here](http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Kiss), if you're curious~ It has a very nice summary, imho. ♥️)
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you like this! Thanks for reading!

Millareu’s search for the mysterious long-haired man had not been entirely fruitless. She left Hisoka with a tip, an address. _“A psychic”_ , she had said _, “the real deal.”_

After his new meeting with Claire was over, Hisoka had two choices: to stay in Dawna and wait for Claire to come back with news, or to believe in Millareu and abandon Dawna to search for this psychic. He was completely aware that both women were undeserving of trust, but the chances of Claire coming back were minimal. The second choice was, unquestionably, the safest bet in this already risky gamble.

The journey to Tbriz took about a week, more than enough time for Claire to find the Zoldyck before Hisoka. He hoped this was not the case, since he had already planned something that could prove more interesting than just challenging the assassin, but he needed to find him before anyone else for it to work. He decided to remain optimistic; there was no use worrying about this before confirming the existence of this real-deal psychic.

The proximity of winter was announced by the snow that already covered the wide streets of Tbriz, layers thin enough to allow the smooth passing of horse-drawn trams and smaller carriages, yet thick enough to soak the shoes of those who had to walk. The place marked by the address was a small theater. From the varied billboard it offered, only one show seemed to be related to Hisoka’s search: ‘Voices from Beyond’. There was only one function and it was the last, which was strange. Spiritualism shows were very popular those days.

Hisoka sat in the last row and waited patiently for the show to begin. A man with neatly combed hair and thin glasses took the stage to introduce the star of the show: a white-haired old woman, adorned with an absurd amount of necklaces, bracelets and rings. She sat at a light wooden table in the middle of the stage and invited people from the audience to sit with her for a chance to speak with the departed. It was a scam. The tricks that were supposed to be the manifestations of their loved ones were actually well performed, but Hisoka could see right through them without difficulty. _Prestidigitation_. The magician crossed his arms and sulked in his seat. If that granny was Millareu’s tip, he could count this mission as failed.

Six couples went upstage. They were not actors, Hisoka would have told. They were just sad people, sad enough to believe anything that brought comfort. After the sixth couple of victims went back to their seats, it looked like the show was coming to an end. The old woman left the stage and the announcer from the beginning spoke once more.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a last surprise for you tonight. As some of you may know, this week we have a special guest. A talented lady who has helped and advised great leaders all over the world! However, she can only use her powers once per day so, in order to make this fair for everyone, she will choose a random member of the audience to sit at her table. Please, give a warm welcome to the lovely Madame Siberia!”

It sounded like just more of the same act and Hisoka considered leaving for a moment, but the welcoming was indeed so cheerful that it made him curious enough to stay. Madame Siberia was a beautiful young woman with long, wavy, black hair. She wore a silky, frilly dress, gloves and a turban with an enormous oval jewel in the middle, everything in purple shades. She closed her eyes and waited until the crowd was silent again. Then, she pointed at her chosen one.

“The tall man with short, spiky hair, wearing a navy blue suit and round glasses, please, come upstage.”

 _What a funny guy_. The chosen man looked nothing like the typical attendant of a spiritualism session. Instead of showing sadness or grief, it seemed like he was about to punch the next person that talked to him.

“There’s someone I lost many years ago,” he started, leaning forward intimidatingly, “a dear friend from childhood... Is that enough information, Miss Siberia? It should be, if you really are a medium.”

 _Ah! A debunker,_ Hisoka inferred _._ The man’s voice boiled with scorn, yet the woman remained calm. She closed her eyes and took off her gloves, then extended her hands for the man to hold. She waited for him to grab them to reply.

“Yes, it’s enough. Now tell me, what do you wish to ask your friend?”

“Heh… You think I’m going to fall for that? I’m not asking you shit until you prove you know who I’m talking about.”

There was a soft murmur from the shocked audience. “Did he really say that?” they whispered, and “Such vulgarity!”, “Unbelievable”, “People like him should not be allowed at these places”, and so on. Hisoka just snorted. He liked this guy’s guts.

“Very well…” Madame Siberia replied unaffected. She took a deep breath. “It was warm… It was the warmest day of summer… You were just kids.”

“Of course we were kids, I just told you-”

“Shh! don’t interrupt… I have trouble hearing.”

The man rolled his eyes at the audience.

“His voice is so coarse…” Madame Siberia continued. “He can’t stop coughing blood. He’s been like this for so long, that it hurts to speak.”

Hisoka focused his attention on the lady; she was surrounded by an undulating lilac aura. The man said nothing; he was frozen on his seat. She continued.

“It was the warmest day of summer… He was feeling unwell, but he did not tell you because you wanted to keep playing and he believed he could endure a bit longer…”

“How…” The man murmured in shock.

“The heat of the midday sun and the exercise were too much for him… He was overcome with weariness… He says… he just really felt like going to sleep.” The man tried to retrieve his hands, but the lady did not let go. “He says… That there is no need to look so scared. He says… That it was not your fault, Leorio.”

The last sentence made the man with the round glasses jump from his seat. He tried to speak, but his agitation was such that he could only shake his head repeatedly.

“He says he knows why you are so disheartened, but... begs you not to lose hope. He knows you’ll be a wonderful doctor someday. Please, don’t give up.”

A single tear escaped from the man’s glassy eyes while he nodded, first softly, then repeatedly and fast as if to ascertain that of course, of course, he promised, he could not speak eloquently, but he promised.

“He has to go now. Please… Don’t forget what he said.”

“What? No! Wait! I- There’s so much-“

The psychic smiled warmly and opened her eyes. “I’m so sorry. He couldn’t stay any longer. But don’t worry, he seemed to be very close to you, I’m sure whatever you wanted to tell him, he already knows.”

For a moment, the humble theater was left in absolute silence. The announcer approached the tall man and kindly asked him to get off stage. He looked at the psychic again, and huffed. In a shy voice, he begged her to pardon him for his earlier rudeness and left.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and so, our show has come to an end! Thank you all for your attendance today. I hope your trip back home is safe and uneventful. Goodnight!”

The heavy velvet curtains closed completely and the audience finally got on their feet. Hisoka’s lips curled into a wide grin. It looked like he still had a chance of finding the long-haired man.

 

 

The magician waited until all the public had left to talk to the announcer. He gave him a distrustful glare. “I assume you are aware of the price of private consultations.”

A heavy leather pouch appeared on the magician’s hand as response.

The announcer walked him to the center of the stage and their steps echoed in the empty, dark theater. He touched the ground, a circular gate opened under it. Both men jumped down.

Madame Siberia lay on a bed of colorful pillows in the middle of a white room. It was incredibly bright despite having no lamps, no candles, nor even a single window. Hisoka evaluated both of them. The announcer was probably the architect of the room, which made him an amazing nen user, no doubt. Nevertheless, the pulcrity of his creation indicated he was more of an architect than a fighter. The energy emanating from the woman, on the other hand…

“As you see, there are no exits in this room.” The announcer started explaining. “Only I and Miss Siberia have the key to let people in or out. If you try to hurt any of us, you will be left here to die. With that cleared, I will now proceed to explain the consultation rules. If you wish to talk to a spirit, you can do so for as much as the spirit allows. Be aware that some do not want to speak, and some cannot be found at all. If you wish to ask for a prediction, be aware that Madame Siberia’s visions are never exact; some are just less vague than others. Lastly, yet not less important... We do not issue refunds.”

 

* * *

 

 

Illumi looked outside the window of their carriage. He had no idea where they were exactly but, according to his calculations, they should be arriving at Tbriz in less than an hour.

“Once we get to the hotel, I’ll go outside for a walk. You’ll stay,” he said, and then added, "it's snowing and you could get sick."

“How long should we wait for you, Master?” The young butlers asked in unison.

Illumi sighed. “Don’t wait. I won’t take long. Just go to sleep. ”

“Yes, Master.” The girls replied in unison again. They were thankful. Not because they believed his fake concern, but because it really was cold and they just wanted a warm cup of chocolate by the fire in the lobby.

Illumi had been to Tbriz many times. He liked wandering alone, admiring the tall buildings and its architecture, and walking to the river that crossed the city. Sometimes he stood in the middle of the bridge to watch the river flow, the chunks of ice it carried glowing in the moonlight, other times he followed the promenade that bordered it until the buildings became less and less and the city turned into forest.

His hit was scheduled for the following night, so he wanted to use this one to repeat the routine. To his distaste, Illumi discovered that the city had grown considerably in population and nightlife since he had last been there. _Annoying_. He was not a fan of crowded places, but there was something he liked to do when he could not avoid them. Illumi pierced his face with multiple needles and rearranged it to his favorite disguise. He liked this one so much it had its own name: Gittarackur. Illumi walked across the main avenue of Tbriz and smiled, freely now under his new face, at the sight of the path that opened in front of him. Gittarackur’s appearance always achieved its purpose; it made people stare, but it scared them enough to keep them away. His presence was a knife, a shiny blade cutting its way amidst frightened passers-by. The Zoldyck listened carefully to every gasp and murmur and smiled broader each time someone yelped. It was fun. Not as fun as hunting a target, but entertaining anyway. Sometimes, however, Illumi found people foolish enough not to stay away.

The disguised assassin kept walking away from the main streets. He was being followed. He did not look back; it was more enjoyable not knowing the face of his chasers until the last moment, when he turned around and changed their roles. He started running. He ran and ran across the white streets until he reached a secluded park with only one lamp working, the perfect atmosphere for a dramatic ending. Illumi slowed down, and disappeared just past the blurry circle of light offered by the lonely street lamp.

As expected, the one chasing him slowed down and stopped in the middle of the circle of light. It was a tall, young man with fiery red hair. He had a star and a tear drop painted on his cheeks. Illumi took his hands to his chest, but refrained from launching an attack. It was odd, this person felt somehow familiar, as if they had seen each other before.

“Hmm… What is this? First you invite me to follow you and now you disappear? How rude~” The man laughed.

 _The port lunatic!_ It was impossible to forget such a sing-song voice. Illumi stepped back into the light. “I never invited you.”

“Well, you didn’t conceal your a-” Hisoka blinked twice, perplexed at the sight revealing itself in front of him. It was true that his memory was not the best and that it had been about a month since he had last seen the Zoldyck, but he remembered him quite different. The one in front of him looked like a relative of the Elephant Man, a sturdy big man with what seemed to be multiple golden needles pinned into his head, but, most importantly, almost thoroughly bald. “I… I’m sorry. I think I mistook you for someone else.”

“Ah! Wait a moment.”

What followed was truly worthy of a freak show; as the man removed the pins on his head, his whole frame began to change. His body slimmed, his features softened and a river of raven black hair flowed lusciously from his head to his waist.

Illumi waited silently. Not many people got to see this transformation; he was curious what this man would say.

Hisoka’s chest heaved as he tried to articulate at least just one single word to express how awe-struck he was. “…Wow”, he kind of succeeded.

Illumi blinked. He was not sure what he expected, but it was definitely not that. “Am I the person you were looking for?”

“Yes!” The redhead exclaimed cheerfully, then, he eyed the Zoldyck up and down. “Yes, there is no doubt.”

There was something so subtle yet so obscene in the way this man spoke and acted, it made Illumi uncomfortable. _I should kill him now_. The idea was the most reasonable way of proceeding…

“Good, now let me confirm something... You are the madman that tried to fight me at Dawna, aren’t you?” He asked instead, curiosity stronger than reason.

The redhead rested both hands on his hips and laughed. “Well… Although I must admit that I did try that, I assure you I’m not a madman.” The magician’s voice was now softer, yet still unsettling. He took off his hat and bowed down. “My name is Hisoka. How may I address you?”

“Gittarackur.”

Hisoka hummed. That did not sound like it started with an I. “Mr. Gittarackur Zoldyck… It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The Zoldyck stood silent in something akin to alarm, or so Hisoka believed. There was not much in his face to indicate it. Still, the silence was enough confirmation of his suspicion; the name was false. The magician straightened up and waited for the other to reveal his true name.

“What do you want?” Illumi asked. How he knew he was a Zoldyck was not important.

“I just want to amend my past offense. I have come to warn you about someone, they are looking for revenge, and they won’t stop until they get every member of your family, starting with you.”

Hisoka’s story did not surprise Illumi; it happened every once in a while. However, the fact that this was _Hisoka_ , and that he had apparently looked for him just to warn him added to the curiosity already brimming in him. “I’m listening.”

The redhead was so proud of how good his acting skills were, he decided to change his plan a little. Instead of telling Illumi his lie in a single breath, why not extend this meeting a bit longer? His luck that day had been extraordinary so far. It was worth a shot.

“Umm, before I continue, may I make a humble request? Could we go somewhere else? Somewhere with a roof, preferably?”

Hisoka pointed at the sky. Snow kept falling and the shoulders of both men were covered in frost. Illumi breathed out, Hisoka was as irritating as he was strange. _Who does he think he is, making requests?_ Illumi imagined himself extracting the information from the redhead with his needles. Simple, practical… barbaric. He could not act like that in front of Hisoka. It did not feel right. Not that it was an unusual procedure for the assassin, but there was such a challenging, mocking aura in Hisoka, that Illumi felt it would be like losing. Losing what? He was not entirely sure, but he was going to prove to him that he could be just as much of gentleman as he had been so far, and still be able to get his information and his life at the end of the night.

“Oh! Of course. Where should we go?”

“Oh my, I’m new to this city so I have no idea which places are good. Maybe we could walk until we find some place decent?”

 _Some place decent_. The word ‘decent’ sounded so absurd from the redhead’s lips, that Illumi could not help repeating the phrase in his mind.

“Hm?” Hisoka asked.

“Eh?”

“Oh, nothing. I thought you had said something.”

There was no way Hisoka could have known Illumi was laughing at him in his mind, still, the comment made him strangely uneasy. “Let’s start moving then, before you freeze.”

They passed the first blocks in awkward silence. There was nothing but residential buildings, closed stores, and empty streets.

“It’s Illumi, by the way…”

“Pardon?”

“My real name. Gittarackur is just an alias, my real name is Illumi.”

“Illumi…” The redhead repeated. _That does fit_. “What a pretty name.”

Silence after that compliment would have been awkward, so Illumi continued talking. “I think you should start telling me about this supposed enemy now. Who knows when we’ll find,” he paused briefly, “some place decent.”

Hisoka looked at the road in front of them. They were far from the main avenue and he would probably finish his story before reaching it. He sighed. It was really cold; he could have used a drink somewhere. “There’s a vampire I used to work for. Her name is Claire. She works for the Camarilla, but she confessed to me that she is acting behind their backs. She and a group of her allies are the ones who are looking for your family. They want revenge.”

“If that’s true, then why haven’t they gone to our home? The address is not a secret.”

“It is not?”

“No. As a matter of fact, back when we were still alive we tried to announce our address globally as an incentive for new clients to contact us, but, for some reason, people did not believe it. Getting the word across continents is much harder than you would imagine. Well, unless it’s a rumor, then it will fly to every damned corner of the world…”

“Excuse me, what do you mean ‘back when we were still alive’?”

“Oh.” Illumi blinked. He was talking too much, but it was understandable. It was not usual for him to engage in real conversations, much less with practical strangers. He did not worry, however. He was going to silence Hisoka forever after this anyway. “Nothing important. Let’s go back to your story. Even if we haven’t been successful with publicity, there are still enough people in the world who know our address and would share it if asked. If she wants revenge then why not just find our home?”

“Because they already tried that. Claire went once to ask for a meeting, but it seems your people massacred her people.”

“Ah… That sounds probable. There was a time when vampires wouldn’t stop bugging us.” He spoke in a low voice, as if he was talking to himself only.

They went silent. There were many things bothering the Zoldyck about this whole situation and Hisoka was horribly slow at informing. Illumi crossed his arms and looked at the dirty snow on the ground as he tried to focus. Suddenly, he remembered something very important. _This creep stole my cloak_. Things were getting clearer. He looked at Hisoka, who was busy trying to warm his hands with his breath.

“I think I understand now.”

“Eh? But I haven’t finished telling you everything.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong. These people want vengeance, but they know that they can’t break through our home’s security barrier. Therefore, they decided to chase us outside of it. They are coming after me first because somehow they were able to track me down using a piece of clothing which was stolen from me not so long ago by a certain gentleman.” Illumi looked back at Hisoka, who looked almost as dumbfounded as when he had removed his pins.

“Are you a detective as well as an assassin?” The magician asked playfully, trying to hide his disillusion at the fact that there had gone almost all the rest of his story. It seemed this meeting would not last much longer.

Illumi tilted his chin up, pleased with the compliment to his deduction skills. “What I still don’t understand is why you decided to get involved in this hassle.”

“I hate my boss.” A truth between lies.

“So… You decided to sell her to her enemy just because you didn’t like her? Woah, that Claire sure knows how to pick them.”

Illumi’s voice had been just as monotonous as it had been the whole conversation, but there was something different there. _Was that… sarcasm?_ Hisoka turned quickly to the black-haired man. He was now looking straight again, but, there was still something particular on his face, on his lips, still haunting the corners. _A smile?_

“I could try to explain all the reasons why she deserves it but I think I would need more than a single night.” Hisoka replied and there it was again; barely recordable for the untrained eye and just for a fraction of a second, the assassin’s lips had curled up into the most fast and furtive smile in the world.

“Well, I think you should pick your top ten reasons and try, because right now I have no solid proof that anything you have said so far is true. You could have invented all of this. You could be helping someone who ordered you to tell me this as part of their plans. I could go on, but the point is, if you do have some way to convince me of the veracity of this tale, this is your chance.”

They stopped and Hisoka examined Illumi’s face. Even though his voice had been completely even, even though the message was clearly menacing, why was the ghost of a smile haunting his face? Illumi was having fun with this as well. The Zoldyck was truly admirable. Not only had he been able to deduce the rest of Hisoka’s lie, he had just found the weakest point it had. The magician had to make a big effort to hide his joy. _A truly admirable creature… But a slippery one, too_. Hisoka could not forget how he had escaped the first time they met. No, if he wanted to fight Illumi, he would have to take his time, plan it carefully. He shuddered at the thought. He could already savor that day.

“She will come to you.” Hisoka answered finally. “I left her side as soon as I knew that she was going to track you down, not knowing if any of us would be really able to find you… But here I am, and if I managed, she will as well. Just wait; she will come to you, and it will probably be very soon.”

“Probably soon? So you are telling me she will try to attack me, but don’t know when? How is that supposed to be useful?”

“You can wait, be prepared.”

“Wait?” Illumi widened his eyes in what Hisoka interpreted as exasperation.

“I know it must be troublesome, but I’m 100% certain that she will come looking for you, and when she does, I’ll be at your side.”

“Alright, and the ten reasons why I should believe you are on my side?”

“Ah, yes, there are plenty, but this is the most important one…” Hisoka answered in the sultriest voice possible. “I’m attracted to power, and I can recognize the strongest competitor when I see them.”

Illumi raised an eyebrow. “You just don’t want to be left on the street after I kill your boss, don’t you?”

“You misunderstand.” Hisoka replied almost offended. “Losing my job is not a concern for me. Besides, I never said anything about you killing Claire. On the contrary, I was going to propose you let me deal with her, alone. You see, I really…” He stressed the ‘really’ again, “really hate my boss.” He went back to a casual tone to finish. “Unless, of course, she brings too many friends. In that case, I would gladly accept a helping hand.”

The assassin stared at the smiling redhead in disbelief. _He really is a madman._ There were so many things bothering him about Hisoka, but the fact that he looked so relaxed now was the worst _. Does he realize there’s nothing stopping me from killing him? He just told me everything I needed to know. This clown, didn’t leave a single detail to use in his favor!_ Illumi remembered the first time they met; Hisoka had used a strange technique on him. _But he hasn’t now, I would have noticed…_ He briefly scanned himself with Gyo, and nothing. Why did he look so confident? Then he realized. _If this Claire thinks she’s strong enough to defeat a Zoldyck, and he thinks he’s strong enough to defeat Claire… Then he believes we are at the same level. This cocky clown…_ To his surprise, Illumi found himself suppressing a smile. He could not believe this man, as in ‘he could not believe a man like this could exist’. It was too amusing. Illumi admired the golden eyes of the redhead, dazzling, dangerous and sharp, like a knife, like his needles… _Beautiful as well…_   He decided to make a change of plans. Hisoka was lucky; he was not going to die, at least not that night.

“Hisoka, wasn’t it?”

The magician inclined his head in affirmation.

“Hisoka…”

He half-grinned at Illumi. _He repeated my name too, how cute_.

“Hisoka…”

Before Hisoka could make a witty comment about this strange repetition, he found himself staring right into Illumi’s eyes. He could not tear his gaze away. He could not think of anything else but how deep his eyes were. Illumi’s eyes were incredibly black, like a calm lake under the night sky, the bottom unfathomable and treacherous, and closer, the dark water kept coming closer, a sea approaching, covering everything. Suddenly, Hisoka felt his back touch a wall. _When did I…?_ Just moments ago they were in the middle of the sidewalk, but now he was with his back against the brick wall of a building. He looked to the side and touched the surface to confirm that yes, it was all very real. And he had not been the only one to change places. Somehow Illumi was just inches away from him and, although he would not have minded in a different situation, there was something really smothering in his aura that moment. Hisoka had no opportunity to react, however. The tug that exposed his neck and the pain of the sharp fangs sinking into his flesh lasted… What? Seconds? Fractions of it? He did not know, and he did not longer care. However awful the bite could have felt, the feeling that came afterwards washed it all away. It was intoxicating; a warm poison spreading through his veins. Hisoka let his head rest on a shoulder and closed his eyes, let himself dive into this sudden wave of pleasure that heated his body from the very top of his ears to his cock.

Now he could understand why every time someone was bitten in folktales they never fought back. Why would anyone want to? A voice deep in the back of his head answered; folktales rarely end well, both for humans and monsters. Grudgingly, Hisoka mustered up all his will and strength to push the creature away, but his grip was vice-like, coiled around him like a snake. After some short time struggling, the same hands that had tried to push Illumi away turned to circle his back and clutch the fabric of his coat with enough strength to tear the seams. The voice in the back of Hisoka’s head was still there, but there was another one, far louder, demanding him to get closer. Hisoka bucked against Illumi and moaned gratefully as the assassin acknowledged and indulged and grinded their hips together. _Closer_. Hisoka lowered his hands to Illumi’s rear. Somehow, his hands were too clumsy to grab his cheeks. No, it was not that. They were too weak. Panic gave him a moment of clarity. He was cold, but sweating like a pig. He could feel his heart beating fast, but his whole body felt heavy and slow. A clear thought formed in the fuzzy mess of his head.

_How long has it been? How much blood have I lost?_

In this new state of lucidity, Hisoka tried reaching for his cards. Useless. His arms went numb and fell to his sides. A second thought formed, barely, above the ringing noise filling his brain.

_Am I going to die?_

His legs surrendered next and, if it weren’t for the constricting support of Illumi’s grip, Hisoka was sure he would have fallen to the floor. Suddenly, the vampire let go of his bleeding neck.

“Hisoka… does Claire really exist?” He whispered against his ear.

“Yes…” The magician answered immediately in a feeble voice.

“Is she really looking for me?”

“Yes…”

Luckily for Hisoka, Illumi did not make any more questions. He had not enough strength to focus on maintaining his lie, and had Illumi kept questioning him, Hisoka would have ended up confessing that yes, Claire was indeed looking for him, but not to avenge anyone.

Illumi gave a final lick along the stream of blood that was running down Hisoka’s neck. “Thanks. You can sleep now.”

The assassin’s voice was soothing, far away. _Sleep…_ Yes, he really wanted to sleep. Hisoka closed his eyes, and gave in to the blissful haze.

The assassin smiled briefly at the sight of the unconscious redhead. There was so much beauty in it. He put one of Hisoka’s arms over his shoulders and calculated the distance to his hotel; it was a fifteen minutes walk from there. He hoped there were still cabs going around. Illumi did not want to walk that long dragging such a heavy man.

 

* * *

 

 

Ferrer and Nanker were proud Zoldyck butlers, so they stayed at the hotel as ordered, but were still awake and waiting at the lobby when Illumi returned. For a moment, they thought that at some point in their wait they had fallen asleep and what was happening in front of them was a dream. Illumi had gotten off a Hansom cab, but he was not alone. He was carrying what seemed to be a very drunk man, so gone that he did not make a single effort to help get himself out of the carriage. They rushed to help their Master with this strange luggage.

“Ah! Girls, good thing you are awake. Please, hold this for me. I have to make a registration.”

“A registration?” Ferrer inquired.

“Yes. This is Hisoka. He will be staying with us for a couple of days. Please, take care of him.”


	6. Convalescence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone even read these? Aaaaaaaah... who cares.... //EDIT: omg I meant the chapter notes I'm so sorry!!! ;u; but yeah thank you all for reading and leaving comments and kudos you make my day ♥️♥️♥️

Hisoka opened his eyes very, very slowly. He was tucked in to his ears in a soft, warm bed. Next to him there was a rococo-style bedside table. He accepted it. His lids were so heavy that he just accepted the sight in front of him without questioning and went back to sleep. Minutes later, after his brain had had a chance to start warming up engines, he opened his eyes again, and frowned. _Where am I?_ He tried sitting on the bed, but the mere movement of lifting his head from the pillow made him dizzy enough to stop and lie down again. He waited some more minutes for his head to stop spinning and tried once more, much slower this time.

A thin streak of light that slipped through brocade curtains was the only illumination in the wide, modestly furnished room. He looked to the door in front of his bed, there was someone sitting on a chair just by the main door. _Illumi?_ No, impossible, it was day time. Besides, the presence was much weaker. Hisoka adjusted his eyes to the dim atmosphere. _Angry girl._ The familiar butler was sitting rigid like a statue, or rather a gargoyle, given her stern expression. _Is she guarding me? Or is she guarding the ones behind that door?_ …Who cared? Hisoka tucked himself again and closed his eyes. It was too cold, and he was too tired.

The third time he woke up, he was much more energized. Hisoka straightened up and noticed that although the room had not much furniture, all the pieces were ostensibly luxurious: paintings and mirrors with golden frames, a console table with marble countertop, an enormous rosewood dresser with intricate mother of pearl inlay designs, and two chairs with velvet upholstery. He looked back at the thin space between the brocade curtains; it was dark outside. _How long was I asleep?_ He turned to the girl in the chair to ask her and was surprised to see it was a different one.

“Are you awake?” The new butler asked with a smile.

“I think so. Excuse me, who are you?”

The girl giggled; she was similar to angry girl both in physique and presence, but she was clearly friendlier.

“My name is Nanker. I’m one of Master Illumi’s personal butlers. He sent me here to look after you. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. ”

Hisoka scratched the back of his neck. “What time is it?”

“It’s past ten. You slept a lot. I was starting to worry.”

Somehow, Hisoka had woken up to a fancy room and a butler of his own. He massaged his temples. It could not be a dream, his head hurt too much.

“Nanker… Can I call you Nan-chan?”

The girl smiled broadly and nodded.

“Nan-chan, where are we?”

“We are at the Notvedt Hotel, in Tbriz.”

“I see… And why am I here?”

“You don’t know?” There was a mix of surprise and disappointment in her voice. “I’m sorry. I have no idea either. All I know is that you were brought here last night by Master Illumi. He told me and his other butler that your name was Hisoka and that we had to take care of you.”

“Is Illumi here?”

The girl paused, surprised again. It was weird hearing someone call their Master by his first name so casually. “He was here not long ago. He wanted to talk to you, but when he saw you were still sleeping he said he would come back later.”

“Can you call him now?”

“I can’t. He left for a job, but don’t worry, he will be back.”

Hisoka sighed. At least this momentary absence would give him time to analyse his current situation.

“Excuse me… Mr. Hisoka, can I ask you something?” The girl asked shyly.

“Of course”

“I’m curious… What is your relationship with Master Illumi? I know I shouldn’t pry in my Master’s business, but… It’s just very strange of him to have a… guest.”

“I’m as confused as you are.” Hisoka answered simply. Information was an asset too valuable to spill so easily. Besides, they weren’t really anything but acquaintances.

“Did he…?” Nanker signalled at her neck.

Hisoka could not help smirking as vivid memories of the previous night flashed in front of his eyes.

“He did.”

That had been quite interesting. He made a mental note to bring up the topic if Illumi showed up later.

“…And why are you alive?”

Nanker's tone was low, concerned, and Hisoka’s smile vanished as he started wondering if maybe vampire bites had side effects he was not aware of.

“What do you mean?”

“He should have killed you. I mean, I’m not saying I was hoping for that, it's just... Master rarely feeds from someone who isn't a butler, and when he does, he never leaves survivors... So why? How did you manage to get him to spare you?”

“...Oh,” Hisoka crossed his arms and pretended to be thinking deeply, then, with a wide smile he answered. “Maybe he likes me.”

 

Despite acting playful, Hisoka was confused. He had considered the possibility of Illumi attacking him, but he had sincerely thought he was going to be able to counteract. He never imagined he would wake up in a hotel room, exhausted, guarded by butlers. _Why am I here?_ The possibilities were too many to simply guess; he had to talk to Illumi again.

Hisoka pretended to fall asleep, and waited for Nanker to doze off before trying to get up. The overwhelming dizziness that followed made him fall heavily against the wooden floor, the sound so loud that it woke up the butler. She hurriedly went to his side to help.

“Please, don’t try that again! You have to rest! How do you feel? Are you alright? Did you hit your head?”

“No, no… but I don’t feel very well…” Hisoka admitted.

He went to bed, defeated, and rested for real for a couple of hours. The sound of familiar voices arguing disrupted his sleep, pounding in his ears like a drum.

“I told you to take care of him.”

“But you also said to let him sleep and that’s what he asked for.”

Hisoka lifted his torso just enough to see who was there. Illumi stood by Nanker at the feet of his bed. “What is all this yelling?” He yawned.

“Ah, you're awake. How are you?” Illumi asked.

“I’ve been better.” The hunter answered as he stretched lazily.

“I was informed that you haven’t eaten all day and that you’re so weak that you fainted. Is that true?”

Hisoka frowned at the vampire's words. Although he had to admit that he was in a state of extreme weariness, he was not pleased to hear that ‘he was so weak he had fainted’. It was true, yes, but there was no need to bring it up.

“I didn’t faint... I tripped and fell.” There was a difference. “Apart from that, I’m alright.”

“You’re not alright, you’re anaemic.” The Zoldyck made a signal to his butler, who promptly left the room and came back with a silver serving plate. “I understand you may feel tired, but you lost a lot of blood and need food. I hope you like soup.”

Hisoka hesitated. Was he dreaming? Was Illumi Zoldyck really offering him soup, urging him to eat? This could not be right. There had to be some trick behind. Kindness was not a virtue commonly found in vampires, much less in a Zoldyck. Hisoka felt wary. Like a lamb who knows they'll meet a blade before adulthood.

“I do like soup. Still, although I appreciate the concern, I don't need it. What I do need is to talk--”

“You eat or you die, as simple as that.” Illumi interrupted.

Due to their monotony, it was hard to guess if the assassin’s words were of concern or if they were a threat.

Hisoka maintained Illumi’s recalcitrant stare as he responded.

“I can eat later.”

“Nanker,” Illumi turned to the butler and took the plate from her hands, “leave us alone.”

The butler obeyed and closed the door behind her.

“I didn’t take the trouble of bringing you here for you to let yourself die,” Illumi continued as he placed the plate on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. “We can talk, but you have to eat first. It is not an option.” He lifted the silver lid; the dish underneath smelled like chicken soup, delicious, steaming chicken soup. “Now, the only decision you get to make is: do you want to do this yourself, or should I help you?”

Hisoka took the spoon that was being offered to him. grudgingly As exhausted as he was, there was no way he could escape the situation, but even though he did not have a choice, he still had pride. Of course he could lift a damn spoon.

Their conversation was not halted for long. Hisoka was done with the dish in minutes. Maybe it was just hunger speaking, but the soup was as delicious as its aroma promised.

“I didn’t meet your infamous Claire today,” said Illumi.

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“I’m leaving tomorrow. Well, later tonight, to be more precise.” There was a brief moment of silence in which Hisoka looked alarmed. Illumi thought it was understandable. He had checked all of his pockets when unconscious; the man did not carry a single jenny. “Don’t worry. You won’t be forced to leave this room. You can stay for the week. Of course, you are free to leave before if you want to. You’re a guest, not a prisoner.”

Hisoka was still alarmed; his worry now was not money, nor the questionable kindness. In Madame Siberia’s vision, the magician was present when Illumi and Claire met, and it all happened in Tbriz. If Illumi left, would the seer’s prophecy be fulfilled anyway?

“Wait, you can’t leave. Won’t you wait for Claire?”

“If she has a way of tracking me, then she’ll find me even if I’m moving.”

“Yes, but if you go and leave me here, I won’t be present when that happens.”

“But what does--? You can’t be considering fighting in your current state.”

This was really, really troublesome for Hisoka. He could not tell Illumi why he needed him to stay, he could not let him leave, and he could not stay silent for too long.

He sulked into the bed and sighed. “I heal quickly. Just give me a couple of days, you’ll see…”

While the magician was reflecting on how to convince Illumi to stay, the other took the empty plate away. He then sat down on the bed, much closer to Hisoka this time.

“You look pale.” He said.

“Oh, it’s just my complexion.”

“No, I mean that you look ill. Are you really feeling well?” Illumi leaned forward and pressed a cold hand against Hisoka’s forehead.

“Why yes," Hisoka replied as he tried not to think on how weird the gesture felt coming from the assassin. "I already feel much better than before! That soup was just what I needed. Thank you.”

“Ah… What a relief.” Illumi lowered his hand to Hisoka’s chin and grabbed it between his thumb and index. “You’ll be able to endure this, then, Hisoka.”

And so, Hisoka finally understood the reason he was there. Illumi was just keeping him for further interrogation. The magician tensed up. There was nothing he could do. With all that casual chat, Illumi had managed to fix his eyes on his and now they were all he could focus on. He felt the same hazyness of the previous night, the same feeling of being pulled down pitch black waters.

“Hisoka… Hisoka...” Illumi said, and now the mantra was nowhere near cute, just forewarning and dreadful. “How did you find me?”

Hisoka tried closing his eyes in an attempt of blocking whatever hypnotic trick Illumi was playing on him, but it was in vain. His brain demanded him to answer.

“A psychic, Madame Siberia… I asked her where you would be in the future, and she said you would be in this city, and that we would meet here.”

“Oh, can she see anyone’s future?”

 _Fuck._ “No…” It seemed this interrogation was going to be much more exhaustive than the last one. “She… She has to touch the person… or an item of theirs…”

“I imagined. That’s usually how it works… Tell me, what did she see when she touched you?”

“…Me and Claire. A snowy street… She didn’t see you… So I asked her to check Claire’s future… With a handkerchief I stole from her last time, to check if you two would meet as well…”

“How clever!” Illumi praised. “And what did she see?”

Hisoka huffed and sweated as he tried his best to stop talking. He had never encountered a nen user that could force someone to speak just by looking into their eyes. Was this some other kind of power? It did not matter. All that mattered was keeping his mouth shut.

“I said,” the Zoldyck repeated stressing his words and the pressure of his hand, “what did she see?”

Hisoka gulped. His lips started moving as if by their own will. “You were there… In Claire’s future… You were there too, just not close to us.”

“Do you know when this is going to happen?”

“I don’t.”

Illumi raised his eyebrows and hummed. “I see… Is there anything else you are hiding from me?”

 _Oh, give me a rest_. The question was spot on. Hisoka dug his nails deep into his legs and pursed his lips in a last desperate try of resistance. He still had a chance to fix this if the interrogation stopped there.

“Are you still trying to resist? Impressive… But you should give up. You’re only making this harder for yourself. Tell  me, what are you hiding?”

Instead of answering, the magician pursed his lips tighter. Illumi was truly admired. He thought of resorting to his needles, but they could be too harmful and he wanted Hisoka mentally fit after the interrogation. He decided to continue, he just had to make the right questions.

“Shhhh, stop resisting, it’s alright.” Illumi cupped Hisoka’s face with both hands. “Hisoka… What is your relationship with Claire?”

“My boss… I want to… I want to see her tremble and beg… for me not to kill her,” he confessed; but it was fine, that was nothing new, he could still fix this.

“Why is she looking for me?”

Hisoka shut his eyes tightly. That was the question he dreaded the most. “….She wants to… make you and your family… join her group, the Camarilla.”

Illumi furrowed. “Why?”

“She doesn’t want… to risk… having your family join another group… and have you as enemies….” It was over. That was the whole truth. No revenge, no danger, the annoying woman just wanted to meet him for the sake of diplomacy and negotiation.

The assassin let his hands fall to Hisoka’s chest and went silent. For a moment, it looked like the interrogation was over, then Illumi made a final question. “Why did you lie about all of this?”

Hisoka let his shoulders drop. No point resisting anymore. With a half-grin, he answered as simply as he could. “…I was bored.”

A strange answer, but he was also a strange man, Illumi thought.

The vampire stood up and turned around. “That’s all. You can rest now.”

Illumi could feel anger starting to boil in his guest. He expected this reaction. Being totally conscious when someone takes information from you against your will must not be a pleasant feeling. _He’ll be fine. He’ll have forgiven me by the morning._ _He has to be grateful I was considerate and didn’t use--_ A muffled sound interrupted his thoughts and he turned back to discover Hisoka in a strange position. He walked towards Hisoka, whose upper body was awkwardly sprawled over the beside table.

“Hisoka?”

He did not answer. Illumi lifted his head; he was breathing, but seemed unconscious. His skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Apparently, even the needle-less interrogation had been too much for his weakened state. The assassin called out for his butlers.

“Yes, Master?” They asked in unison, rolling up their sleeves. It was obvious for the girls that they were going to be asked to get rid of the redhead’s body.

“Help him,” Illumi said instead.

The butlers were shocked to discover they were wrong, but ran to do as told regardless. They were there to obey, not to question.

The vampire stood by the door, observing silently. Deep down, he felt uneasy. This was his fault. It was not Hisoka’s pain that bothered him; it was the fact that he had tried to avoid inflicting pain yet alas, he had failed. In his line of work, this was important. Anyone could use force, but only a professional would know _how_.

“He will be just fine,” Ferrer announced some time later.

Illumi nodded. “Good. Keep an eye on him tonight. We are staying.”

He turned and left without paying attention to how the girl’s jaw almost dropped to the floor.

Before going to bed, Illumi wrote a letter to his father.

_Had some trouble with the job. Nothing serious. Will be back in a week max._

He tilted his head as he pondered if a week was too much. Maybe, but this whole Claire business was strange. A week was just enough to give her time to appear and clear things up, and also for Hisoka to recover.

Illumi signed the letter and left it next to a note with instructions for his butlers before finally going to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Hisoka woke up the next day to the sight of angry butler, standing by the door with her arms crossed.

“How did you do it?” She asked.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. We were supposed to leave today but I had to rearrange everything at last minute and I’m sure it had to do with you. Spit it out. How did you convince Master Illumi? Why are we still here?”

“Excuse me, what did you say your name was?”

“I’m Ferrer,” the girl growled.

Hisoka smiled, she reminded him of a puppy.

“Well, dear Ferrer, I’m here because I’m Illumi’s guest and, if I understood Nan-chan well last night, you are here because you are my butler.”

As expected, the answer just angered the already angry girl even more.

“Don’t get wrong ideas. You’re not here out of kindness. Once Master Illumi is done with whatever plan he has for you, you’re dead. I’ll throw your body to the river myself.”

“Oh really?” Hisoka scanned her from head to top. _A 60, enhancer or emitter_. He straightened up and leant forward. The change on the magician’s playful attitude was almost tangible, his sudden sullenness spread in the air, making it dense, oppressive. “If what you say is true, then my life is in danger. I guess I should kill you, for the sake of my own safety. Ah! And why stop there? I should also kill your friend. She’s sleeping now, isn’t she? She won’t even see me coming. You won’t be able to do nothing. Afterwards, with both of you gone, I could even go and kill your precious ‘Master’. Just to be careful.”

Ferrer gave a step back as she felt the bloodlust emanating from the mysterious guest. It was possible. Nanker was indeed sleeping, and Illumi was practically unconscious during daytime. Still, she tightened her fists and stomped on the floor.

“I don’t care if you are the goddamn queen of Tbriz, you try anything and I’ll fry you to the bone.”

The butler gritted her teeth; the man was clearly a strong nen user, but maybe in his current state she still had a chance. The fight would alert Nanker, she would take care of getting their Master away from there. They would be alright. She was ready for Hisoka to attack.

“Hahahaha! My, you may not be a lady but you sure are a loyal servant!” He laughed. “Relax; I won’t try to hurt you, or Illumi.” He said waving a hand in the air. “After all, I have personal business pending with him.”

"How dare--" The girl tensed up as she tried to contain a scream of frustration. _Who the hell is this creep and what kind of business could he possibly have with Master?_ She pointed at a silver platter on the chair by the door. “Your food. Eat.”

“Aren’t you going to-?”

Before Hisoka could finish the question, the girl stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut. He snorted; she was most likely an emitter.

The magician slowly stood up and walked to the chair. He was noticeably better, maybe enough to be able to fulfil the threat he had just made. _How careless of Illumi to leave me guarded by only one butler, and an emotional one at that. Really careless…_ Hisoka remembered Claire mentioning with marked emphasis that the Zoldyck were everything but careless.

Thinking practically, Hisoka should be dead. In reality, he was alive, sheltered, and -he lifted the silver lid- well fed. _…If Illumi isn’t careless or kind, I’m not really a guest… He’s doing all this because there’s something else he wants from me. …But what?_ _More information_? The thought of being interrogated again gave Hisoka goosebumps. He was probably lying about him being able to stay there as a guest. Maybe he had planned to kill him the night before, but reconsidered after realizing he was still a source of information. Hisoka gazed at the appetizing food. Maybe it was a lie, maybe not. Maybe Illumi was just disgustingly rich and this _noblesse-oblige_ -like act meant nothing to him. Perhaps Hisoka could ask him at night. He was certain the vampire would visit again.

 

 

 

 

Illumi found Hisoka making a house of cards on his bed. He seemed focused, so he stood by the door frame in silence.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Hisoka said without looking up to his host.

“I came to apologize.”

He stared at Illumi. The assassin did not bother to even feign an expression of regret.

“Apologize for what?”

“The way our conversation ended yesterday. It was not my intention to worsen your state.”

The magician raised an eyebrow at the insincere apology and then looked back at his house of cards. With a single push, it fell down. He breathed out.

“I’ll be direct. I know you are not sorry, and I don’t really care. You don’t need to pretend with me. In fact, I’d rather we stopped faking _politesse_ altogether. It’s tiresome.”

Illumi’s eyes widened a fraction. The exaggerated praise of correctness, morality and etiquette that dominated society those times did not leave much opportunity for directness. Illumi hated that and, even though he appreciated the proposal, the fact that this practical stranger had been able to notice this made him uneasy.

“What makes you believe my politeness is false?”

“You’re wealthy. You must know very well the proprieties of high society… but let’s be honest. What use is politeness to an insect about to be crushed?” The redhead shifted his position; there was something feline in the way he moved. “You’re only a gentleman when it’s socially required, I’d bet on that.”

“And when it’s not socially required?”

“You show your true face.”

“My monster face, you mean,” Illumi added in a faintly annoyed tone.

“Yes, just like me.”

Illumi blinked twice. This was a pleasant surprise. He was expecting the typical comment on how any creature different than a mortal human was a ‘monster’, the kind of comment that shoved every single magical creature into the same bag, and placed 'normal' people up a pedestal. But it was not. Hisoka was being neither alienating nor derogatory in any form, all the contrary, he was placing himself next to him.

“Are you saying you are a monster as well?”

“Would you like me to show you?” The magician purred.

Illumi had to lower his head to hide the swift smile that the question had elicited. Hisoka was simply unreal. How could he keep the perky attitude even after all that had happened? He was at total disadvantage and his collapse the previous night had proved it. If Illumi wanted to, he could rip off his heart and place it before his eyes before he could even realize what was happening. But he would not. Not when he kept challenging and teasing him like this.

“That overconfidence of yours is going to kill you someday,” Illumi said after he had erased all traces of emotion from his face again.

The redhead just smiled broader. In him, this baring of teeth was as much a sign of friendliness as it was a feral animal’s warning. “Thank you for the concern, but I think I’ll be just fine. Now, what did you really come here for?”

“I came here to chat.”

“Chat? ...Like yesterday?”

Illumi shook his head. “I trust that what happened yesterday is enough incentive for you to stop lying, so you don’t have to worry about me playing tricks on you.”

“That’s good to hear.” How sweet of Illumi to believe something could be incentive enough to deter Hisoka from lying. “Alright… What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to know about you.”

 _An interesting request, but most probably with an agenda_. If the assassin was going to ask more about his relationship with Claire then it was alright. His hatred towards her was one of the few things he did not felt like lying about. If it was something different, well, he would see. Hisoka picked up the scattered cards. “Illumi, do you know how to play poker?”

“I do.”

“What do you say we chat while we play then?”

The vampire sat down at the feet of Hisoka’s bed. As he watched the other expertly shuffling the cards, his brows knitted into a small frown. A proper game of poker involved money, and Hisoka was very much broke. “What are we betting?”

Hisoka stopped and thought for a moment. “I don’t have any money at the moment. My only possessions are my clothes.”

“Oh, I guess we’ll have to do without betting.”

“I was trying to say that we could bet our clothes.”

“No, thank you. You’ll lose and I have no interest in seeing you naked.”

“Oh~ Aren’t we confident? Well, prepare yourself because I’m going to wipe the floor with you.”

They played to the crack of dawn, but luck was not on Hisoka’s side and Illumi’s face was so unreadable that Hisoka got to wonder if it was real and not a porcelain mask. Needless to say, he lost, magnificently. Their chat, however, was just as Illumi had promised: normal, relaxed, not hypnosis-induced. They talked about Claire, her weird companion, Madame Siberia and Millareu. Whether it was all true or not, that was a different matter.

Even so, it was only when they finished their game for good that Hisoka made a question of his own.

“…When you meet with Claire, will you negotiate with her?”

Illumi shook his head. “Our family does not negotiate with any sect, this is of public knowledge.” He paused. There was something wrong in all of this. Not only should Claire know about this ‘no negotiation policy’, she should also know that the Zoldyck family _did_ have an affiliation to the Camarilla already. “I want to listen to what she has to say, however.”

“Illumi… Let me fight Claire. If you are not making deals with her, after you are done listening to her chattering, let me fight her.”

The assassin stared at his guest. He was actually surprised that Hisoka was asking for permission. Then again, it was not really permission, he was just asking him not to interfere. After a moment of consideration, Illumi replied. “Alright. After I’m done talking to her, you can do as you want.”

“And the other one?”

The assassin’s raised his brows high. Did Hisoka really think he could face two vampires in his state?

“Aren’t we confident?” His guest just grinned in response. “I don’t care what happens to them. After they have said what they want to say, he’s all yours. I have to leave now, it’s almost dawn.”

“Goodbye, I’ll see you tomorrow~ Ah, or should I say tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, for our rematch. Your victory today was plain luck, I’ll show you.”

Illumi hummed. He did not get to play cards often. Ferrer could not get the grasp of it no matter how many times he explained it to her, and Nanker had a vision impairment that discarded her as an option completely. It would not hurt to play with Hisoka again. “I’m looking forward to that.”

 

* * *

 

The following day passed without incidents. Ferrer appeared only to bring Hisoka his meals and ignored every word directed at her. It was no big deal. The solitude between the butler’s brief apparitions was not unwelcomed. Hisoka used the quietude to rest; he had to be wide awake for the poker game.

 

“Wait… That’s weird.” Illumi stopped in the middle of the round and picked up one of the cards Hisoka had just revealed. “This card was already played.”

“What? No, you’re confused.”

Hisoka tried to take the card away from him, but Illumi pulled it away and examined it closely to see if it was rigged.

“Hisoka, are you cheating?”

“I am not.” He said offended, although the card was indeed tampered with Texture Surprise.

“But I could have sworn…”

Illumi tried to reach the pile of cards to look for the one he knew he had already discarded, but Hisoka took the rigged one from his hand and mixed it with all the other ones on their improvised table before he could.

“If you are so suspicious, let’s start a new round,” he proposed.

The assassin let out a small gasp. “You _were_ cheating.”

“I was not.” Hisoka said with a straight face as he stacked the card together. “Now, let’s start again.”

“That was as good as a confession! How long have you been cheating?”

“I wasn’t cheating,” he insisted calmly.

“Did you cheat yesterday as well? Because that would be very sad.”

Hisoka squinted at Illumi. “Are you going to play or not?”

Illumi shook his head, his porcelain mask now showing the start of a smile.

“Fine. I can’t play with this level of distrust anyway.”

For a brief moment, Illumi’s lips curled into a smile and, even though he had lowered his head again, Hisoka had caught a glimpse of it. He said nothing, however. He did not want to disturb the placid atmosphere that had fallen over them. For this reason, he just mimicked his host’s movements, looking down and smiling softly. Before the room got completely silent, Hisoka started shuffling his cards. Illumi was surprised to discover that he found the repetitive sound soothing. He liked it so much, he allowed himself to relax and lie on his side at the feet of Hisoka’s bed. The magician still said nothing. He kept staring at his cards, but Illumi was sure he was vigilant of all his movements. _Like a cat_. If Illumi were to reach a hand to him, he suspected Hisoka would bite it.

“Tell me about the other targets you had to kill for Claire,” Illumi asked.

“If you want to know why she wanted them dead, I have no idea.”

“No, I just want to know what kind of vampires they were.”

Hisoka shrugged. “Just weak ones. I’m sure you must have met far more impressive ones in your trips.”

“That’s the thing, I have not. I…” Illumi paused. This was a private thing to confess. In his short time of unlife he had not met many other Kindred, but it was mostly because of his father. Firstly, he kept giving him mortal targets; secondly, there was _the order_.  Amongst the set of patronizing rules imposed on him after his embrace, Illumi had been told not to engage in conversation with other vampires. “ _There’s no point doing so. You can’t trust any of them_ ,” his father had said. Illumi obeyed this order, in his own way. He would listen, but never answer. “I haven’t had the chance to meet many others because I deal mostly with mortal targets, so I’m curious…”

“Oh, well, let’s see… My first job was actually a group of three…” Hisoka started without questioning any further, to Illumi’s relief.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Ferrer appeared in Hisoka’s room with something else besides the usual silver platter. It was a thin, long, white cardboard box.

“Is that for me?”

“It is,” the butler answered curtly. The anger had vanished from her aura, but it seemed she still did not accept his presence there.

Hisoka opened the box and found a long nightgown. It was white and simple in design, but he could tell by the soft-knit cotton that it was of high quality. Underneath the first item there was a night robe. The garment had the same simplicity as the first garment, but at least it was tinted in a muted deep red, a colour more of Hisoka’s liking. Hisoka wondered how much they had cost. Sleeping garments were a luxury that only a few could afford. In fact, it was the first time Hisoka had had a set on his hands.

“You have to change and pass me your dirty clothes. I have to get them cleaned.”

“Really? Thank you, dear.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s Master Illumi’s orders.”

“I’ll thank him later this evening in that case.”

Ferrer could feel one of her eyes twitching. “I’ll be back later to pick up the tray and your filthy rags,” she said before leaving hastily.

Much later in the afternoon, she informed Hisoka that she could not make it in time and the clothes would not be ready until the next day. She pretended to be sorry about her failure. Hisoka pretended to be affected by the news.

 

 

When Illumi returned to Hisoka’s room that evening, the redhead was waiting for him, wearing his new robe and standing by the window.

“You’re much better I see. Did you like your gifts?”

Hisoka turned around. The robe was the only thing he was wearing.

“Yes, I’m very thankful.~ The nightgown was a bit tight, but it’s fine, I don’t mind staying like this.”

Illumi remained immobile on his spot, confused. Hisoka was similar to him in shape so there was no way he had miscalculated the size that much. Not unless the butler had blundered.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Illumi looked around but he could not see the white box anywhere. “Can I see the gown? I want to see if it’s the one I asked for.”

“I said it’s fine. Don’t worry about that,” Hisoka dismissed the topic with a flick of a hand, then walked to the bed and sat at the edge. He patted the spot next to him and waited for Illumi to humour him before continuing.

“So, do you want to play cards again, or do you want to try something different?” Hisoka cooed, leaning back on his elbows and causing the loosely tied robe to reveal more of his chest.

It became obvious then that there had been nothing wrong with the nightgown and Hisoka’s half-nakedness was completely intentional.

“Hisoka, what are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“…Are you trying to tempt me?”

“Tempt you?” Hisoka laughed and arched his back theatrically, making the fabric shift even further away from the parts it was designed to cover. “I don’t understand why you would think that.”

The vampire was starting to get annoyed at the poor act of ignorance. Hisoka was really testing his patience with that vulgar act.  He was lucky that Illumi was the epitome of self-constraint; any other vampire would have already drunk all the remaining blood from him.

“Are you really that oblivious of your position here? You are a mere guest. Stop trying your luck.”

The magician hummed and shifted on his side, as if that was what Illumi meant with ‘position’. He remained silent for a moment, amber eyes glowing in the dim-lit room.

“Illumi, why am I your guest?”

“Because you’re involved in the issue with the Camarilla messenger,” the assassin answered instantly.

“I thought we had agreed to stop the bullshit.”

“Oh.” _Blunt_. Illumi hesitated. Hisoka could be reckless, but at least his deduction skills seemed sharp. He had to have figured out that Illumi had no need for him. He had no need to wait to meet Claire in the way the seer predicted. He had no need to meet Claire at all. His question was valid, but intrusive. “Are you questioning me?”

“No, oh no.” Hisoka rested his head under an arm and laid his other hand on his hip. Although now the robe was covering him, as was its intended purpose, the fabric adhered to his skin and accentuated the curve of his thin waist and the rise of his hips. “I’m just curious. I have to right to be curious about my current situation.”

Another valid point. Illumi turned away and looked at the flame on the lamp at the bedside table while he pondered what to answer.

The reason why he was still keeping him was not exactly bad, but it was personal. In his profession, personal reasons went hand in hand with personal wants, and personal wants with impending ruin. An assassin with wants other than fulfilling their task was a foolish one, and Illumi was not foolish. No, he was sensitive. He was diligent. He was dutiful and obedient of all of his parents’ requests. But sometimes, he was also overwhelmed. Illumi had been raised to be an efficient assassin but nothing prepared him for the curse that had befallen on him and his family. The embrace had not only changed his nature, it changed everything. The restrictions of his new unlife seemed to surpass the benefits immeasurably. The additional restrictions that his parents were forcing on him did not make things any easier either. Illumi was still as dedicated to his job as always, but he could not deny that adhering to so many new rules was becoming wearying. Dullness kept bleeding into his nights, like an incurable disease. The world, his world, was becoming less appealing with frightening relentlessness. Any distraction that fit between the gaps of his new inescapable prison was most welcomed.

The vampire was about to respond, but stopped. He was still unsure what to say. Hisoka did not mind. He kept staring at him trough half-lidded eyes, the smirk ever present on his lips, yet soft enough to indicate that it was no problem, that he was still waiting. Illumi looked back at his whimsical guest. He irradiated such ease that it cleared his whole mind. The assassin ideal was one thing, reality was another. There was no need to pretend he was perfect, not when his family was miles away. There was no need to hide or adorn the answer either, because Hisoka could surely understand.

“I was bored.”

The grin on Hisoka’s face proved he did.

“Ah… Does that mean that I’m here for your entertainment?”

“Yes.” It was a blunt way to say it, but it was not wrong.

Hisoka gracefully rose up, never averting his gaze from the assassin’s. He grabbed one side of the collar of the robe and slid it down, exposing his neck and shoulder completely.

“Then why don’t you let me entertain you?”

Illumi held his breath. He could practically see the streams where life flowed through under his skin, sweet and inviting, but he would not yield. Self-control was one of his main qualities and he took pride in it. Furthermore, he felt a special pleasure from denying Hisoka what he wanted.

“I don’t need that kind of entertainment.”

The magician arched his brows. The prospect of repeating the scene from some nights ago was very, very, tempting, but that was a total refusal. Hisoka sighed and lowered his head. He had no intention of being annoyingly insistent or begging.

“Fine...”

Hisoka let himself fall on his back and closed his eyes. He thought Illumi would leave after the pitiful scene he had just made, but when he cracked an eye open he found he was still sitting there, watching him with attention.

“You have many scars,” Illumi said when he realized Hisoka was watching him as well.

“Battle wounds,” Hisoka answered, and considered covering himself.

He had forgotten about the scars, so he had not bothered to disguise them, but in reality he didn't like them. They raised too many ugly looks. Still, there was no judgment in Illumi's gaze, just curiosity.

The magician sat up again and let the whole upper part of the garment fall down. For someone to have that many scars, he should have fought plenty of battles, Illumi noted.

“These ones,” Hisoka said pointing at the thicker ones, “were made by a werewolf.”

“A werewolf? I have never met one, but I thought if you were scratched by one it would turn you into one of them.”

“Old wives tale. Apparently, it’s the bite you have to fear.”

“I see…”

Illumi reached a hand to touch the scars, but halted it in midair and looked at Hisoka. He granted him permission to continue by bowing his head, and soon felt the cold digits of his host gliding over his skin. Hisoka had marks over his left side, his left arm, and his right shoulder. Illumi wonder how strong Hisoka actually was. Werewolves were fearsome enemies, he had been taught. Even if Hisoka had not won those fights, the mere fact that he had survived them was worthy of praise.

“Can I cover myself now?”

Hisoka’s voice brought Illumi back from his reflection and made him move away his hand fast, as if the touch had suddenly burnt him. Hisoka was staring calmly at him, and Illumi was displeased to realize how charming Hisoka’s calm expression was.

“Sure, we don’t want you to get sick for tomorrow night.”

“Hmm? What are we doing tomorrow night?”

“Didn’t Ferrer tell you? We’re going out. That’s why I sent for your clothes to be cleaned. I was hoping we could do that tonight, but the cleaning takes a long time here, it appears.”

“Where are we going?”

Illumi shrugged. “Anywhere, unless you have an idea where this woman will show up.”

It took a moment for Hisoka to understand what he meant. He had forgotten completely about Claire and it would be a lie to say he was not slightly disheartened that the trip was to find her and not just more pampering from his wealthy host.

“I don’t.”

“In that case I guess we’ll just have to wander around.” Illumi bowed his head slightly and stood up.

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t you like to hear about the werewolves before you leave?”

The assassin stopped and looked back at the Hisoka. The curiosity in his eyes was evident.

“Wouldn’t you like to hear about what they look like? What they _really_ look like?”

“…What do they look like?”

Hisoka patted the spot next to him as invitation to sit down again.

“If you undress again I’ll leave immediately.”

The magician snickered. “I won’t. I promise.”


	7. This is (not) a Date

Illumi looked behind him and was surprised to find Nanker and Ferrer grabbing their coats.

“What are you two doing?”

The girls looked at each other. _It should be obvious_ , they thought. They were putting on their coats because it was snowing outside. If they were going to accompany Illumi and Hisoka on their walk, they had to dress accordingly to the weather.

“I never ordered you to come along,” Illumi continued.

Hisoka observed the two young butlers. It was clear they wanted to object but did not dare to. It was a funny scene, despite the tension in the air.

“We are going on a date~,” the magician added in a whisper.

“It’s not a date.”

“It is~,” he said, still whispering.

Only Nanker was capable to overcome the strangeness of the situation and say something.

“We’ll be waiting as usual,” she said in a neutral enough tone.

 

Once both men were far from the hotel, Ferrer turned to her friend and grabbed her firmly from the shoulders. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know! Maybe Master is finally going to get rid of him.”

 

 

Illumi was not sure if he wanted to get rid of Hisoka yet, but he did want to be over with their stay in the foreign city. The purpose of their walk that night was to ‘trigger’ Madame Siberia’s prophecy. If she had said the meeting with the Camarilla people would happen in the streets of Tbriz, then they would stay outside until she appeared or it dawned.

Illumi was very intrigued by the Camarilla emissary. Why was she trying to find him? He was already a member of her faction. Was there something else she wished to talk with him? Something secret? Why was she travelling with only one companion? Was that a lie? Was it an ambush attempt? Or was it because she was looking for him at the backs of her superiors? Many times during their walk, Illumi found himself actually wishing he could discuss the matter with Hisoka. The hunter seemed clever, he could probably offer some insight if Illumi were to explain his circumstances to him. Then again, he could not trust such delicate family secrets to someone as treacherous as Hisoka.

The hours passed, the wind grew colder, and there was still no sign of any woman in black. Illumi’s hopes diminished with each step taken. If the woman was travelling without her organization’s aid, then it was reasonable that it would take her a long time to reach Tbriz. Travelling long distances could be an odyssey for creatures forced to sleep by day.

Illumi turned to his companion. Hisoka had not complained yet, but Illumi had noticed that he seemed strained. This was also concerning. After seeing Hisoka’s collection of battle wounds, he was very interested in seeing him fight. Of course, no matter how skilled, Hisoka would not be able to achieve defeating a vampire in such lame condition. When his steps became too slow, Illumi asked him to stop.

“Are you tired?” He asked.

“It wouldn’t hurt to rest for five minutes.”

So they stopped. Without the sound of their steps, a dead silence engulfed them. Illumi tried thinking of something to say, but he was not sure what. Socialization was not his greatest asset. Besides, Hisoka seemed so at ease with their silence, that it also felt odd to try to break it. Illumi observed the magician. He was leaning on a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Upon closer inspection, Illumi realized Hisoka’s easiness was not exactly that. He was practically falling asleep standing.

“Hisoka, would you like a drink?”

The redhead opened an eye. “Excuse me?”

“Would you like to have a drink?”

“A drink? And here I was thinking this wasn’t a date!”

“It’s not,” Illumi cleared up. “But it’s cold out here. If you need rest, it’d be better if it were somewhere warm. There was a tavern somewhere nearby… Should we go there?”

The amber eyes seamed to gleam. “If you insist.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hisoka looked down at his mug, clearly displeased. “This was not what I had in mind when you said a drink.”

“Well, that is a drink.”

“It’s hot chocolate.”

“A drink.”

“Also, you said we would go to a tavern, this isn’t a tavern,” Hisoka kept complaining.

“It’s a coffee tavern”, Illumi said signalling the words painted in the windows of the coffee house. Coffee houses had lost popularity in the last decades and some people were trying to bring them back by advertising them as ‘taverns’ in an attempt to compete with the beer industry. For this same reason, they tended to stay open until late. “You should be thankful they had cocoa. Most coffee taverns offer just that, coffee.”

Hisoka sighed, defeated. Although a real tavern was not a glamorous place, he would have preferred going to one because of the joyful ambience. The coffee shop was full of crestfallen, tired, silent men. However, on second thought, it was not that bad. The place was heated and everyone seemed so dead, that it was like having the whole shop for themselves.

“So how is it?” Illumi insisted.

“It’s good,” Hisoka answered, then, he continued with a touch of mischievousness. “Would you like to try it?”

Illumi ignored the impossible question. “You should have another one afterwards, or a coffee, something to keep you awake.”

“There’s no need. I’m fully awake.”

“Barely, I would say. You shouldn’t overlook these things; drowsiness could affect your reactions.”

“Reactions to what?”

“To an opponent’s attacks, of course. I want to see you fight, but it won’t be fun if you can’t even stand.”

Hisoka’s kept his surprise well-hidden. “You’re right,” he hummed. The magician took a long sip while he internally scolded himself. The comment had taken him aback. For a moment, he had truly forgotten the real reason he was there. Illumi had said it the past night; he was merely an entertainment.

Not that it was a bad thing. Hisoka could understand. He was also guilty of keeping people as toys. The important thing was not to forget the truth; Illumi was treating him with so much politeness it was easy to confuse it with kindness, but he couldn't be a kind person. He could tell by the way the butlers and the servants at the hotel behaved. Illumi was not kind. Hisoka was not special. If he was being spoiled it was just in the same way a pig was fed acorns. Even if Illumi had not been as verbally offensive as Claire yet, that was no reason to confuse things. To him, Hisoka was disposable, and probably many other disparaging words that the assassin was polite enough to keep to himself. Hisoka would do good not to forget that again.

Of course, it was also understandable to feel offended after being remembered of all this so suddenly, after so much pampering.

“I’m your personal clown after all, how could I dare disappoint…” Hisoka said under his breath, spite slightly seeping through words and the steam from his mug.

The whisper was loud enough for Illumi to capture. He looked at Hisoka wide-eyed, as if his awareness was something to be surprised about.

Hisoka closed his eyes as he took the last sip of chocolate. He would pay no mind to Illumi’s comments anymore. Instead, he would focus in getting the most he could from the Zoldyck, then kill Claire, then kill him. If the coward ran away then he would just have to try again. Illumi was findable. Everyone was findable. There was no need to stay under the orders of conceited vampires to be able to hunt them. After he was done with Illumi, he would never lower his head to anyone else.

“You’re not a clown.”

The vampire’s words cut the silence and took Hisoka by surprise again. It was not the sentence itself, it was that it almost sounded sincere.

“Pardon?”

“You’re not a clown,” Illumi repeated with the same honesty, yet more decisively.

“No?”

“No,” Illumi said and turned to look out the window. “It would be unwise to consider you so.”

All previous offense forgotten, Hisoka left the mug on the table and leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of a hand. “And why is that?”

“Hmm… If we stick to the circus theme, I’d say you’re closer to a lion than a clown.”

“A lion! I’m honoured, though I always considered myself more of a magician.”

“Ah! Right,” Illumi faced his guest again and tilted his head, “I forgot you already have your place at the circus.”

Hisoka smiled broadly. That was nice. A lion was nice. Claire had called him many animals, but none as strong and deadly as a big feline. Although it was not likely that Illumi had meant it as a compliment, Hisoka decided to take it as such.

Illumi copied Hisoka’s posture and stared at him intently. It seemed he was not over talking yet, so Hisoka waited. He waited for some minutes until it felt like Illumi was trying to burn him with his deep gaze.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“No, I was thinking… You’re the strangest magician I’ve ever met.”

“Why do you say so?” Hisoka asked, serious. Maybe now was when the insults were going to begin. He prepared himself; it was fine, it wouldn’t be the first or last time someone tried to insult him.

“…Your speech and your manners are those of a man who indulges in the most indecent pleasures, but you are also capable of acting appropriately if you want to. So, maybe you are a depraved man, but not like the poor bastards stranded at cheap brothels, blinded by their vices. You can control yourself, it seems. Your keenness and the vocabulary you’ve used sometimes leads me to think you have some kind of education. Not only could you keep a conversation with members of high society, you could outsmart many of them easily, I suspect… You don’t carry a single coin, but your clothes seem tailor-made, meaning that you either had a considerable amount of money once, or you still do but for some strange reason don’t carry it with you... Or you have important sponsors. You are also a skilled fighter. I’m not sure how much of what you’ve said is true, but I do know that you have mastery of nen, and also that you have killed many. That recklessness of yours may seem idiocy at first glance, but maybe it’s just the confidence that comes with experience. I can smell death on you; you’ve spilled so much blood, it still lingers on your skin.”

Illumi finished his speculation and immediately regretted it. For some reason, the magician was looking at him like a maiden to whom he had just recited poetry.

“So don’t ever call yourself a clown again. You may fool others, but not me. I know what you are. You’re not a buffoon. You’re a killer, just like me,” Illumi added to clarify things.

On the other side of the table, Hisoka still was awe-struck. From the last comment, he could deduce that Illumi was not intending his speech to be a compliment. Then again, if that was not a compliment then Hisoka had no idea how else to classify it.

He thought of something witty to retort with, then realized that he had let too much time pass, and the best way to continue talking without disrupting the nice atmosphere was to just move on to other topics. He took the mug on one hand and pretended to just notice that it was empty.

“Is the offer for another coffee still standing?”

 

 

 

 

By the time Hisoka was done with his coffee, the weather had become colder, and it was snowing heavily. Even so, Hisoka insisted on continuing their walk.

They walked a few more blocks under the incessant snow. Illumi constantly gazed at the man beside him. He was shivering and kept rubbing his arms. Hisoka wondered why he was so cold. He remembered enduring worse weathers, and with worse clothing, years ago during his childhood. _Maybe I’m falling ill_ , he thought. _Probably because I stayed so long wearing only that gown last night, though the hotel was cosy… Is it my age? Am I finally getting old?_

He stopped, seized by the sudden urge to sneeze. Illumi stopped behind him and watched him sneeze once, twice, trice, and cover his nose with one of his cuffs.

“Do you need a handkerchief?”

Hisoka shook his head and reached for one in his own pockets. After blowing his nose properly, he turned around. Illumi was smiling at him.

It was not a wide smile, but it was not a faint curl at the corners of his lips either. It was, finally, a smile.

“Do you find this funny?”

Illumi did not respond, but kept the mocking smile on his face.

“Go on, keep mocking me! You are dead, what do you know about the cold? ...No, actually, you do know about the cold. You’re a walking icicle.”

Illumi parted his lips to say something, but reconsidered. Instead of talking, he let out a deep breath. It took a moment for Hisoka to understand what he was doing.

His breath was warm. The steam of his breath disappeared into the air in a thin fog, just like his own.

“How…”

Illumi smiled his tiny smug smile again. “It’s a trick.”

The assassin proceeded to take off his leather gloves, and raised a hand towards the face of the magician. He moved back, and Illumi stopped. He understood, last time Illumi had touched his face it had not ended well, so he waited a few seconds for permission, then touched the cheek of his companion.

Hisoka widened his eyes.

“You’re warm.”

He covered Illumi’s hand with his own. It made no sense. He remembered the vampire’s touch to be as cold as ice.

“How?,” he asked again.

Even though he was very much enjoying the look of surprise on Hisoka, Illumi looked to the side. There were people approaching, just around the corner.

A pale woman dressed entirely in black and some injured fellow stopped abruptly when noticing them. The woman looked almost in shock.

“Is that your boss?” he asked Hisoka.

Hisoka smiled wickedly and fondled the hand cupping his face before letting it go. “Former boss.”

Claire went from confusion, to realization, to pure disgust and rage. “You traitor! You fucking bastard! I’m going to scratch your eyes out you filthy rat!!!”

“What language. I don’t think she’s in a state to have a proper talk,” Illumi noted as a cloud of tumultuous red aura formed around her.

“Don’t worry,” Hisoka said as he reached for his cards. “I’ll calm her down."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~*~  
> Hello! I'm not dead!!  
> Ok um... I feel I need to say this because honestly I never expected people to actually read this + I suck at tagging so here it goes: this story is planned to be **long** (well, you probably have noticed by now).  
>  But yeah... that... ;u; just in case...
> 
> Also, I'm trying to force myself to write shorter chapters, ; ; maybe that way I can update more frequently...  
> But ye... as usual... I can't promise anything really... I just hope...
> 
> Welp, hope you liked this one! And thanks for all the kudos!!! ♥️♥️♥️!! Bye!!~


	8. Oh no

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i took so long anyway my life is a mess and everything i try goes to shit and i dont think it will ever improve so just, just believe that someday sometime there will be updates...
> 
> OH, yeah... there's some vtm lore mentions... i hope it's not confusing...
> 
> also i've been playing flightrising?? leave a comment to add you

Barely after Hisoka finished speaking, the woman in black materialized in front of him and lunged towards him, aiming for his chest with the sharp end of a frilly parasol.

The pointy end of the parasol reached its target, but caused no harm. Claire was fast, one of the fastest creatures Illumi had ever seen, but her rage clouded her mind so she could not see it was just smoke she was attacking. The real Hisoka, with a balance as excelling as his reflexes, was perched on the rail of a balcony above them. He whistled and waved his hand to Claire to get her attention, with a smile too joyful for someone who had just been attacked. The woman looked at Illumi, then back to the balcony and, with a resolute expression, she turned away to deal with the man she despised first. Not because she had deemed it was the wisest thing to do, but because she would rather burn than let Hisoka laugh at her face again.

Although Illumi would have liked to sit down and watch those two resolve their personal quarrel, there was someone else in the street who also required his attention. The tall vampire who accompanied the woman in black was still there. Just like Illumi, they had remained impassive to the drama unfolding around them and had not moved one step away from their spot.

The stranger stared at Illumi for some seconds, and then, in complete calm, bowed down in salutation. Illumi bowed his head slightly in response, never losing them from his field of vision.

“Should we talk somewhere less noisy?” The vampire asked and signalled a nearby alleyway.

The voice and movements of the stranger were soft and calm, and there was nothing in their aura that indicated they wanted to fight. That did not mean the invitation was not suspicious, since the place was perfect for an ambush. Still, Illumi followed the vampire. If the situation turned dire, he could always flee.

He followed the strange vampire into the alley and immediately realized that the darkness that was extending around them was not just the effect of the distance from the street lamps. There was an actual, thick darkness looming over the ground, across the walls, arching over them and blocking the night sky. Illumi knew this technique. He had not mastered it yet, but he had seen it already, so when the trap finally closed behind him leaving him inside a chamber of pure black, he remained composed and focused on not losing track of the vampire’s presence. It seemed that fleeing would not be so easy now.

“I hope it doesn’t bother you to talk like this,” the vampire said, “the message I have for you is very important, and I would like to avoid interruptions.”

The shadow chamber was perfect. It drowned the sound and light from the outside world completely. Hadn’t the assassin been so strong, he would not have been able to stand the corrosive weight of the shadows oppressing him.

Illumi looked down at his hands, but he could barely distinguish them. It was possible that the only reason he was able to see something in the first place was because he was also a manipulator of shadows. However, this blackness felt so different from his own, that Illumi was not sure he would be able to manipulate them to escape, if the need arose. The only way to dissolve the shadows was to kill the source. This was, of course, just the worst case scenario.

“My name is Tevfik Birkan. My partner Claire and I have come in representation of the Camarilla. I know this may sound strange, coming from someone of my clan. What is a Lasombra doing with the Camarilla? But, you should know that, despite my clan, I have been part of the Camarilla for many years now… May I ask which clan are you from? You seem fairly unaffected by the causticity of my shadows. Are you, perhaps, from clan Lasombra as well? If you are, you shouldn’t be afraid of the many stories of animosity between our clan and the Camarilla. I’m the unliving proof that we can work together.”

Illumi could not help let his jaw drop lightly. The only thing he had understood from that short introduction was the name of the envoy. Yes, he was from clan Lasombra, but he had no idea that there was enmity between his clan and the Camarilla. No one had ever mentioned it. Why had no one ever mentioned it?

“Ah, but that’s not what’s important right now,” the envoy continued. “I don’t know what that clown may have told you about us, but I have to warn you, he lies as easily as he breathes. Good or bad, I suggest you forget anything he may have said before judging our offer.”

Illumi was still confused by the vampire’s previous words. He wanted to ask what he meant by that, he _had_ to know, but a voice in the back of his head advised him not to. Vampires were not to be trusted. It was better to let this one continue his monologue.

He parted his lips to tell Tevfik to go on, but no words came out. He blamed his lack of words to his confusion, and instead of forcing himself to find them, he crossed his arms and nodded.

“I would like to begin by extending our most sincere apologies. You see, Claire and I were present that time, two years ago, when a group of Camarilla envoys tried to approach your home without invitation. We don’t resent your family for how they reacted. It was basically an invasion, so it was normal to want to protect your haven. It was not the right way to proceed, I can see it now, and the wounds on my face and the memory of the friends we lost make sure I never forget.”

 _So that explains the strange bandages_. Apparently, the pair had been involved in one of the many failed raids the Zoldyck Manor had been target of. Illumi did not remember this particular one, but then again, the intrusions were too many to count or remember.

“Oh, I would also like to apologize on behalf of my partner. I love her deeply, but sometimes she can be extremely childish. She is a professional individual, she really is, but she also hates that mortal very much, as you could see. Ah, but I digress again… Mr. Zoldyck, we are here because we strongly believe that we should join forces. And by ‘joining forces’ I really mean that. We don’t ask your family to work under us, all we ask is that you are on our side.”

At that point, Illumi had to stop himself from sighing. This man really believed the nonsense he was saying. Illumi wondered how to answer him. How do you tell someone that the mission they are risking their life for was completely unnecessary? With delicacy… if you care about the person, but since Illumi did not care and since he had lost any chance of courtesy when he trapped him in a shadow cage, he decided to just say it bluntly.

‘ _Your mission is pointless. My family already has an arrangement with the Camarilla. Your tracking me down and cornering me like this was both uncalled for and opprobrious_ ,’ he thought, _yes, that is the shortest, clearest way to answer_.

“Your-…”

Both vampires stood in silence, Tevfik waiting for Illumi to continue, and Illumi wondering why the hell he could not continue. Confusion was not an excuse anymore. The only one who was confused there was Tevfik. He was wrong about his family and Illumi had to rectify that, lest the pair would keep interfering with his life.

_But you can’t talk to him._

The voice once at the back of his head was now loud and clear and, although those were not his father’s exact words, he could still hear them with his voice.

_You can’t talk to other vampires, Illumi._

_I know, I know_ , Illumi answered to himself, trying to dismiss the order. But it remained. It echoed in his head and more than an order, it was a reminder.

_You can’t._

_You can’t._

_You can’t._

 

“You were saying?” The other vampire asked, ignorant of Illumi’s internal conflict.

 

_You can’t._

_You can’t. You can’t. You can’t._

 

 _If I don’t explain then they won’t leave us alone,_ Illumi tried to reason with himself _._

 

_You’re not allowed to._

 

Cold drops of sweat ran down the back of Illumi’s neck. The assassin knew the importance of adhering to rules in his profession, for sure, but he also knew when it was better to break said rules, and this was one of those moments.

 _If I keep quiet any longer he’ll start to get suspicious_ , he thought, almost pleading to his conscience to cooperate.

 

_YOU CAN’T TALK TO HIM._

 

The voice roared and filled his head with echoes so jarring, so overwhelming, that Illumi felt lightheaded and instinctively took a step back.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

Illumi could not exactly see him, but he could feel the aura of the other vampire getting closer. The outline of his shape moved fuzzily, parts of it dissipating into the shadow chamber, and it moved until it was face to face with Illumi.

“Sir… Are you alright?”

The voice of the vampire was full of distrust, and Illumi’s eyes grew wide in something he had not felt in a long time: fear. Not fear of the vampire per se, but fear of the fact that even though he was in clear danger, part of him was paralyzed. He opened his mouth once more, only for the words to rot at the tip of his tongue and finally prove what he did not want to admit.

He could not speak.

He could not speak, because he was following an order.

And he could not disobey the order, because he was being controlled.

 

And then, to his fortune or not -he would never know-, something unexpected happened.

 

Tevfik turned around suddenly, as if he had just heard something, despite being inside a soundproof cage.

“No… NO NO NO NO” he yelled and, far more quicker than he had approached, the vampire turned away, dangerously threatening to leave the chamber.

Illumi knew what that could lead to. He knew that if the creator of a shadow chamber left it, the people inside could be trapped for hours in there, and that was just too much for Illumi to endure, so he reacted in the only way he could. With the speed of a reflex, a quite panicky reflex, several pins made their way across the darkness and into the outline and into the flesh. If it could be called flesh or not in its current state, it was up to debate, but the fact remained that the pins pierced deeply and accurately in the back of the head of their victim and that, with a soft thud, Tevfik fell to the floor.

Tevfik was not dead, not definitely. Illumi squatted next to where his body was. He held the pin cushion that the head of the vampire had become, and considered interrogating him. It was still possible, most undead were very resistant. However, he could not. The terror that had frozen him in his place had gone but not the dreadful feel that if he disobeyed, the most horrible fate would fall over him.

For all this reasons, he sighed, gave up, and proceeded to give his needles the extra push needed to destroy the brain for good.

The darkness that surrounded them started to dissolve immediately, and soon after the vampire’s corpse followed the same process as well. The skin rotted and dried, fell in some parts, persisted stuck to the bones in others.

It happened sometimes, when vampires were significantly old.

Just like that, it all ended, and Illumi was left with more questions than answers. That and a half-decomposed corpse at his feet.

Whether or not the envoy was speaking honestly was not as important as the other discovery. With slow steps, Illumi walked out of the alley, back to Hisoka and Claire.

Suddenly, he remembered Killua.

Was that how being controlled felt like? Was that how Killua felt like whenever he tried to disobey the order from the needle in his brain? It was the strangest thing, being on the other side of the counter. _The wrong side of the counter_.

It was too strange. When could have someone implanted an order on him? His father had no way to do it, and no need to in the first place. How had it happened? Was the order transmitted through a physical object like the thin needle in Killua’s brain? Or was it more complicated than that? Trying to imagine the worst case scenario this time only made Illumi become nauseous.

_But what if the order isn’t as strong as I thought? It was the first time I really tried to answer to a vampire verbally. Maybe now that I know, I can still talk to Claire._

The hopeful idea had to be disposed of when he finally found the others. In the other side of the sidewalk, Hisoka was lying on the snowy ground, next to a fairly-deceased, half-decomposed Claire.

Illumi stopped in the middle of the street, and did not know if he should laugh or curse.

He did neither. Instead, he took another moment to regain composure and walked over to Hisoka’s side.

“Hello Illu~ long time no see,” he greeted with an overly content grin.

“Don’t call me-”

And he paused. The words had come out of his mouth so quick and so easily, it surprised him. It relieved him. Yes, something awful had just happened and he had no way to further investigate on it, but it was over. There was no real ‘impending doom’ waiting around the corner. There were no other vampires nearby either. There were not even people. No candles were lit and no scared faces were peeking from behind windows, no passersby were running and no one was calling the police. The only one beside him was Hisoka, lying on the snow with a stupid smile, as if it was the most comfortable bed to be on.

“Should I ask why you are lying on the ground?” Illumi continued.

Hisoka smiled a bit wider, showing just a bit of his teeth.

“I just really, really like the night sky…”

Illumi raised a brow and gave Hisoka a better look. There were wounds, but nothing seemingly fatal.

“Get up already,” he said and gave Hisoka a soft kick. “It seems no one saw us but there are two half-decomposed corpses that I’d rather not bury, or even touch, to be honest.”

“Two? Negotiations didn’t go well, I presume.”

Illumi only glared at him in response so after a lot of groaning and with the speed of a snail, Hisoka sat up.

“Come on, stand. Hurry up,” Illumi urged.

After some more groaning, Hisoka did as told. It became obvious then that he had to be extremely tired, since he staggered trying to stay standing.

“You can’t walk like this, we’ll take too long,” Illumi said to himself.

For a moment, he thought of offering him a shoulder to help him walk, post-drinking-night style, but then he remembered that had already happened once. That was how he had had to carry him back to the hotel some nights ago. It had taken a real long time; also it had been very uncomfortable.

Instead of going through that ordeal again, Illumi slightly bent his knees and signalled Hisoka to hop on his back.

“…Are you offering me a piggyback-?”

“Do you want me to leave you here?” Illumi cut him short.

“No, sir!” Hisoka placed his arms over Illumi’s shoulders, but took them back immediately. “Wait! Just a second.”

The redhead went to Claire’s side and took something from the ground before finally hopping on Illumi’s back. It was her frilly parasol. He held it firmly with both hands over Illumi’s chest.

“Now where are we going?”

“Back to the hotel.”

There was a short moment of silence after Illumi began running.

It should have been uncomfortable, _should_ have. Truth was, Illumi was actually glad to feel Hisoka’s weight over him. The discovery that he may be under someone’s control was not minor. His mind was going over a thousand suppositions, trying to deduce when, how, and who, all whilst still trying to accept that someone had outwitted him, on his own field.

“Illumi?”

Hisoka’s silly parasol kept bouncing over his chest, and it helped. His weight over his back was almost like an anchor, helping Illumi remember that there was no urgency to deduce anything at the exact moment, that he was not under attack, that it was better to think over his situation with calm and time.

“What happens after we get to the hotel?” Hisoka kept asking. “Is this our goodbye?”

“No,” Illumi answered immediately, then paused. He could feel Hisoka’s breath next to his face, the pumping of his heart, the warmth of his body. All soothing reminders that the only one he had to deal with at the moment was him, and he was not a threat, at least not in that state. “I need to leave the city, but I was hoping you could come with me.”

“Sure.”

“Eh? Are you not going to ask what for? Or where?”

Hisoka whined and rubbed his face on his arms. “Later. I’m too tired now.”

Illumi sighed, grateful that he would not have to explain or plan anything yet. At the moment, his only worries were: going back to the hotel, getting on a train, leaving town. He would have plenty of time to think over his problem and devise and action plan during the trip back home.


	9. Express Train

Illumi is not kind. The theory was proven once more when they reached the hotel again.

“Pack your things, we’re leaving now.”

“Right now?” Ferrer asked with incredulity, and the glare the question elicited was enough to make the poor girl understand that ‘yes, we are leaving immediately and what are you doing still standing there?’

Hisoka was too beaten to care to offer any help but, somehow, the girls solved everything on their own. Hisoka let himself be led out of the building and into the cab that would take them to the train station without complaint.

Illumi was not really with them. He was in presence, of course, but something seemed to be occupying his mind, since he had detached himself from everyone around as soon as they left the hotel.

Hisoka just observed. He observed the girls; they were sitting straight, dutifully waiting, like well-trained dogs. Their auras were a mix of fear and respect, even though the man that was responsible for it was not even looking at them. Illumi looked out the window beside him, but his eyes followed nothing. His eyes were lost somewhere far away, and although Hisoka would have liked to ask where, he refrained, just observed, and tried not to doze off before they reached their destination.

The place was almost deserted except for a night watchman who paced from one extreme to the other and the employee behind the ticket booth, who was sound asleep and jumped from his seat when Illumi knocked on his window.

They walked silently into the station. Illumi sat on a bench while the two girls stood a couple of meters away, one to the left and one to the right, clearly a formation they were used to. Hisoka sat next to Illumi, and the other did not even seem to notice him there. As tired as he was, Hisoka did not bother to try bring him back to Earth, and accommodated himself to close his eyes for a bit, just a bit, until the train they were boarding arrived.

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was clearing. Immediately, he looked to the side. Illumi was still there. He was slouching forwards, arms resting on his thighs, with the hood from his coat over his head. He was still surrounded by an aura of solemnity so dense it separated them like a wall.

“Illumi?”

He did not answer, and Hisoka figured he should try talking to someone in a better mood. He stood up, stretched, and walked over to Nanker’s side.

“Nan-chan, what time does the train arrive?”

“It should be here soon,” the girl answered in almost a whisper.

“But… it’s almost dawn. What about the sun?”

Nanker looked up at him with a concerned expression. Then, her face softened, and she shrugged. “Next train after ours arrives at midday, so we’d have to look for shelter or find something else to use, I suppose.”

Hisoka walked back to Illumi’s side. It felt weird, to think that the one sitting on that bench could be finished in some hours if daylight caught him.

Vampires were strange creatures. They had the potential to be so strong, but at the same time they had so many weaknesses. It was almost tragic, to think that such treasure could be reduced to dust so easily by something as ordinary as the sun.

“Hey”

Illumi lifted his head and found Hisoka holding the frilly parasol he was apparently keeping as memento over his head, smiling.

“Ah… Thank you.”

Fortunately, the train arrived just minutes later.

And Illumi was not kind.

As soon as the door of their wagon opened, he pierced a needle to the attendant’s head.

“Lead us to the sleeping car,” Illumi ordered.

Surprisingly, the man obeyed.

Hisoka stood behind the two girls as the man opened the doors of what was apparently a sleeping car, and a luxurious one at that, since it was not filled with shared bunk beds but divided into eight narrow private rooms. Illumi entered each room and only some words of half-awake confusion could be heard before needles piercing skulls silenced them once more. All this happened under the attendant’s view.

“It’s alright. They are all Master’s puppets now,” Nanker explained to Hisoka whispering, “that way we won’t have to worry about them during the day.”

Hisoka opened his mouth in a silent “oh”. It was a pretty safe way to travel, he thought. Also, Illumi was a manipulator, he noted too.

Four people left their compartments and moved to the other four, and so, each got a room of their own.

“Are we stealing their beds?” Hisoka whispered to the butler.

“We’re not stealing,” Illumi interrupted. “I paid the price, we are just overbooked.”

The puppet-attendant gave each one a key for a room.

“Get tickets from someone if you’re going to wander around,” Illumi added before entering one of the rooms and closing the door behind him.

The girls hugged and kissed each other on both cheeks, and retired as well. Only Nanker replied to Hisoka when he tried to say goodnight.

Each one got their own room. First, and closest to the entrance door, was Hisoka’s. Nanker room’s was next, followed by Illumi’s, which was followed by Ferrer’s.

The rooms not only were private, but they were extremely luxurious. Or so it seemed to Hisoka, he had no previous experience to compare. There was a single bed, thankfully soft, with plenty ornate pillows and covers over it. The windows were small and covered with curtains with damask patterns. A single angle lamp was fixed to one of the walls, but he did not bother lighting it. He just sunk into his bed and, despite the sound of the engines and the rails, he fell asleep instantly.

He woke up to someone knocking at his door. It was day time. When he opened up, the space was empty, but he could feel the trails of one of the young butlers’ presence. On a second glance, he could see something else in front of his door. A tray with food was on the floor, right in front of his door.

After that and a short nap, he had recovered most of the energy he had lost after the fight with Claire. It had been interesting. Her ability turned out to be the summoning of rose bushes, but not normal ones. These could grow and move at the vampire's whim, and the thorns were sharp as blades. Whenever they managed to cut him, the plants seemed to grow stronger.

Not that it mattered now. She was history. Now, Hisoka was ready to listen to whatever it was _Illumi_ had to ask of him.

_Ah, but the sun is still shining…_

An idea seized him. He had disturbed vampires in their sleep once. He had irrupted in their lair, and set them on fire. He was not proud of it, but it had been Claire’s request, so he just obeyed. Only a few managed to wake up before the flames got to them. Not that it saved them, they were all too slow to escape, but the fact remained that they had crawled and screamed and basically, if he were to wake Illumi up, he would be awake enough for him to be annoyed, but not enough to react in a dangerous manner.

There was no one guarding him outside. Only the wagon attendant stood in the middle of the corridor, looking blankly at the void. Hisoka knocked on the door besides his. There was no answer and he could not sense any of the girls, so he moved to the next one…

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the puppet attendant jumped out.

Hisoka grinned. The response was perfectly timed, yet lifeless, as if the man was no longer a man, but a toy programmed to react to certain actions. Hisoka wondered if the other people in the rest of the rooms were also given reaction orders, or if they were still there at all.

Finally, he decided to leave Illumi alone for the moment. He did not want to give the impression that he wanted to attack the Zoldyck. Well, he did, but not at day time like the worst of cowards.

He left the wagon and started wandering, looking for the two butlers instead.

He wandered until he got to what seemed a lounge car, but a ticket inspector stopped him before he could enter.

“Sir, may I see your ticket please?”

Hisoka remembered then that Illumi had instructed to take tickets from the other passengers, but he had forgotten to take one. He pretended to be searching through his clothes while he thought of what to do. He could pretend he had forgotten it at his room, try to fake one with nen, or slyly steal one from someone else’s pocket…

“Excuse me,” a young female voice interrupted from inside the car. “I have it! I’m sorry. I must have taken it while I was grabbing mine. Silly me!”

The man inspected the ticket that Nanker was offering him, and let Hisoka in. He watched him over his shoulder all the way to the table where she was sitting with Ferrer, and so did many others in the car.

“Where you carrying an extra ticket or did you just show him yours?” Hisoka asked once they had sat down.

“Extra one.”

“Ah, beautiful and smart! What a lovely girl you are!”

On the seat next to Nanker, Ferrer was already sporting a frown.

“Good morning dear,” Hisoka said to her.

“It’s past noon.”

“Good afternoon then!”

But the girl did not reply. Before Hisoka could comment on this, Nanker made a question to her friend.

“My dear, why are people staring at us?”

It was true. Some passengers were still discreetly glancing at them.

“Well, it might have something to do with this man here. You see, not only are his clothes awful, he is also wearing make up!”

“Make up?” Nanker asked surprised, and looked back to Hisoka as if asking for confirmation.

“That’s right! I like to paint a star on my left cheek and a teardrop on the other.”

“Really? That’s so peculiar! May I ask why?”

“Well, there’s not much behind it. I am magician; I have to look as one.”

Ferrer rolled her eyes while Nanker smiled. Now it was time to make the sensitive question.

“Nan-chan, may I ask you something personal as well?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have a sight problem, perhaps?”

“Oh, well I do have a condition, although I wouldn’t call it a problem anymore,” she said maintaining her smile. “I’m blind.”

“Oh, I’m sorry-”

“No no! It’s okay, as I said; it’s not a problem to me. Heh, I would even dare to bet that if I hadn’t asked that, you wouldn’t have noticed.”

“You are right,” Hisoka replied, still surprised at the cheerfulness of the young girl. “…But, how do you…?”

The girl giggled. “Not bump into anything? Maybe _you_ should open your eyes.”

Hisoka meditated the answer for a moment before realizing what she meant. He focused his nen on his eyes and looked at her carefully. Her aura was like a thin veil, thinner than average. _Is she hiding her presence?_ He looked with more attention, and discovered this was not the only unusual thing about her aura. It dissipated. Aura emanated from her and flew away. There was a shine like dust under sunlight scattered around her, or more likely, floating around the whole car.

“What a wonderful technique,” Hisoka praised, and then added in an attempt to anger the other girl, “Beautiful, cautious, and ingenious! Boys must be fighting to marry you.”

As if hitting jackpot, Ferrer, who had been silent the whole time, raised her voice.

“We are Zoldyck butlers. We are not allowed to marry.”

“Oooh, what a shame! I would have loved to ask for your hand, Nan-chan~”

Hisoka hoped Nanker’s technique allowed her to read people’s expression, because the one on Ferrer’s face was just priceless.

The butler giggled again. Her laugh was so perfect that it had to be rehearsed. “Thank you. You’re too kind.”

Were Ferrer reactions just those of a jealous friend, or had she more intense feelings about her more likable colleague? Whatever the case, there was one thing clear for Hisoka: he could use that love against them someday.

“Darlings, could you tell me how you got those teas and biscuits you have there?”

The rest of their chat followed the same half pleasant, half tense tone. There was a short debate between the girls about whether they should consider Hisoka a part of their team now or not, which Nanker won because “he’s alive, he’s with us and he’s not a puppet; what other requirements do you need?” There was one thing, however, in which both coincided. “You will never be his friend,” they said. “He might like you for some reason, but that doesn’t mean he won’t kill you if he finds it pertinent, so don’t get wrong ideas. ‘Assassins don’t have friends’. You’ll hear that sentence a couple of times, if you haven’t already.”

 _Lovely, really lovely girls_. How sweet of them to warn him about something like that! And how naïve! They talked as if it was Hisoka who should worry about being deceived. Truly, truly sweet.

 

The magician went back to his room to wait for the sun to come down. Once the only light in the small room was that of the angle lamp, Illumi knocked on his door.

“Ah, were you sleeping?” Illumi asked as he saw Hisoka lying on his bed, coat and shoes off.

The magician stretched his arms and rested them on the pillow above his head. He shook his head. “I was waiting for you, but I’m tired, so I hope you don’t mind if don’t sit up.”

Illumi shook his head and sat on the bed.

“I have come to tell you what your next mission will be, if you decide to take it, that is.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I need you to come with me to Padokea. I’ll give you a place to live, and you will help me when I require it, does that sound good?”

Hisoka raised a brow. “Sounds as good as it is vague. What kind of help will you need?”

Illumi hesitated. He still had not decided how much information was safe to share with the mortal.

“…I need you to help me hunt down vampires. Then I will need you to help me interrogate them.”

There was a shine in the golden eyes of the redhead.

“Sounds like something I could do, although I’m not sure about the interrogation part. I’m under the impression you have much more proficiency on that than me. How am I supposed to be of help with that?”

Illumi felt slightly annoyed that Hisoka knew just what to say to ask for what he was trying to hide.  He looked at the shadows casted on the floor before answering to his new associate.

“I believe someone is playing with my mind,” he said finally, then turned to Hisoka. “I’m a manipulator, so I can tell something is not right. I believe someone has planted an order in my brain, and I want to confirm my suspicions.”

Hisoka’s face turned serious. “What order were you given?”

“…It seems I can’t talk to other vampires,” Illumi answered, and he was surprised at how good it felt to take all those words out of his chest, “I just can't say a word to them... with the exception of my family and my sire.”

“Sire?”

“The one who embraced me, turned me into what I am now. We have trained together in many occasions and I never felt the way I did when I tried to talk to that man in the alley.”

Hisoka hummed. “Do you have any idea who might have been the manipulator who did this to you?”

Illumi shook his head. “No. I have barely had contact with other vampires, before and after I was embraced, so I’m leaning to think whoever did it also erased their memory from my head.”

The magician rubbed his chin and stared at Illumi with the same sharp shine in his eyes.

“Can I give my outside opinion on this?” Hisoka asked and waited for Illumi to nod before continuing. “That’s a possibility, but I don’t think it’s too likely, unless you know someone who could have a grudge on you and is also strong enough to take revenge in such a strange way. It’s just too much work not to be personal. If you ask me, I believe the people in that circle of exceptions are more suspicious than any mysterious stranger.”

Illumi closed his eyes. “I know. I thought of them as well, but none of them have reasons to have done it... While it’s true that I have been advised not to talk to other kindred, putting a real limitation on me would only hinder my work, so my family is out of the list.”

“And your sire?”

“He has no motive either. All he has done so far is train me and help me grow stronger… I think… he has hopes for me, and my family, so it doesn’t make sense he would hinder my life that way…”

Hisoka hummed again. Vampires were highly manipulative. If someone was controlling Illumi, it was also possible they had also tricked him into trusting them blindly.

“Well! I’ll do my best then, to help you find out what ‘s going on~”

“Good, we should discuss your payment now. As I said, I can rent a place for you at Pentere, the town that’s closest to my home. You must promise you will behave, though.”

Hisoka chuckled. “What do you mean behave?”

“That you won’t do something that will make you stand out and have my parents investigate you. We do control the region, after all,” he said with a flick of his wrist, like it was the most casual thing.

“Alright, I’ll be a good boy~ Oh, which reminds me… Should I start calling you ‘master’ as well?”

Illumi side-eyed the magician. It was unfathomably annoying that he could make a word that he was used to hear on a daily basis sound so sexually charged.

“Illumi’s just fine.”

“Aw, alright then.”

“Back to your payment details-”

“Oh, wait!” Hisoka interrupted. “I just remembered something. I have to pay you back as well!”

“What?”

The redhead sluggishly got out of bed and took the frilly parasol from a corner of the room. “This is for you. It’s for the time I spent at your care at the hotel.”

Illumi stared at the item being handed to him. It was just a normal parasol, like you could find in any store. “Uh… Thanks.”

“You have to remove the knob,” Hisoka added with a smile.

Hesitantly, Illumi accepted the parasol and checked the handle. It had a line that divided it vertically. He pressed at the crack until it clicked and the handle opened in two, revealing a tiny figurine hidden inside.

“It’s a dog! Isn’t it cute?” Hisoka said.

Illumi held the figurine against the light of the lamp. It was a small pug, exquisitely carved on what seemed to be a genuine crystal gem.

“It _is_ beautiful… And it looks like amethyst…”

“I’m glad you like it. I’ll consider my debt paid, then~”

“There’s no need for you to give me this. I wasn’t going to charge you for that.”

“I insist. I don’t want to owe you.”

Illumi stared at the gem for a while, enticed by the way the light passed through it, all the details intensified by his cursed eyes.

It was beautiful, indeed, but it didn't feel right to accept it. That stay at the hotel shouldn't have even happened. Illumi had gone a bit too far, taking more than needed both for feeding and for disarming the hunter. Not that he did that often, but it had been easy to get carried away with Hisoka.

“…Lets make a deal. There’s a woman in Pentere called Bisky Krueger. She is a gem collector. Sell this figurine to her, and use that money for food.”

“But what would you get from that?”

“I don’t have to feed you. Savings are savings.” Illumi extended a hand. “Do we have a deal?”

“Actually, there’s something else I want to ask of you. Something not related to money.”

Illumi let his hand fall back on his lap as he waited for the other to continue. He was not sure what to expect. Hisoka sat right next to him on the bed and leaned back.

“I want you to teach me how to be immune to your hypnosis.”

“There’s no way to achieve that,” Illumi answered immediately.

“Are you sure? I’ve been thinking about it. When you interrogated me before, I could put up resistance. I wasn’t prepared for it, but maybe with training I could be able to block your hypnosis completely.”

Illumi stared silently at him. He was right, it was possible. However, it was not a knowledge he wanted to spread. Then again, the mind control that came from his vampirism was different from the one that came from his nen. That other kind of control, infused directly into people’s brains by his needles, was much more brutal and could not be resisted as easily. The first one was a trick of hypnosis, as Hisoka had said, but the second one, it was pure domination.

“Why should I teach you that?” He asked finally.

“Because I’m your ally now and, if we are against someone who controls minds, then the more tools I have against them, the better, don’t you think?”

Illumi hummed. It was strange to hear someone talk about them as a team.

“I guess you’re right… Fine, I will try to train you against it.”

Hisoka let himself fall back down on the bed while whispering a long “yessssssss”.

“I said I’d try. I’ve never done this before, so I can’t guarantee you’ll get results.”

The magician nodded in response, but he looked too happy to be actually listening.

“Hey… I can ask you something too?” Illumi asked.

“Sure.”

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Oh?”

“Aren’t you afraid? We have known each other only for a few days… Yet here you are, on an express train to the other side of the continent, all alone except for these three people you barely even know…” Illumi tilted his head.

Hisoka gave him a toothy smile, then stretched and made himself comfortable on the bed again.

“What can I say? I like adventure.”

“Do you even know where we are going? I know I told you we we’re going to Padokea, but do you even know where that is? Where Pentere is? Do you even care?”

“Ah! There’s the key question. I don’t~" Hisoka said, stretching lazily. "All I care about right now is following you, and that’s going pretty well so far~”

“But why do you want to keep following me? All I have been to you so far is a hazard to your health.”

Hisoka laughed. “That’s true… I guess I just like you.”

Illumi widened his eyes at the casual confession. “You like me?”

“I do.”

The assassin raised a brow. “You know I could kill you in this very instant if I wanted, right?”

However, the question did not have the effect Illumi was waiting for.

A shudder ran through the body of the magician as he took a deep breath.

“I am aware,” he said in a sultry voice, as if the other had just been flirting with him instead of threatening.

“You’re strange…” Illumi said as he leaned back on a hand and relaxed his pose. “But, you know what? …I like it that you’re strange.”

“You do?”

“Mmhm,” Illumi hummed as he tilted his head back, letting his hair fall behind his shoulder. “You’re interesting. I actually like talking with you, alone, like this.”

After the comment, a rush of smugness ran through Hisoka. “I’m glad you find my company pleasing, even though you’ve barely seen the things I can do.”

“What do you mean?” Illumi asked trying to look as innocent as possible.

“I’m saying,” Hisoka answered in a whisper as he got up and leaned closer to the vampire, brushed the back of his hand over the line of his jaw, “that there are other things we could do, which are far more pleasing than just talking.”

Illumi looked at the magician’s hand, and then locked his eyes on his. “Is that so?”

“Mmhm…” He hummed, and then got so close Illumi could feel his hot breath on his skin. “Would you like me to show you?”

It was too close, too tempting, but Illumi was not there to feed, and he was not there to have any other kind of bodily interaction either, so when Hisoka’s lips hovered over his, he leaned back and spoke in a clear tone that resonated in the small room.

“But Hisoka…” Illumi said staring fixedly at the golden eyes, which were like burning embers with the castings of the oil lamp, “you can’t show me. You can’t move.”

The magician blinked twice at the realization that Illumi was right; his limbs refused to respond. He tried telling him how that was unfair, but even his tongue was nothing but a wet numb weight in his mouth.

“First lesson,” the vampire continued as he raised a hand to caress Hisoka’s jaw line, copying what he had done before, “avoid a vampire’s eyes. They can’t get inside your head if they haven’t locked eyes with you first.”

Illumi tapped Hisoka on the cheek twice, stood up and walked to the door.

“You’re free now. I’ll come back tomorrow. Hopefully you’ll be more mentally prepared, and with more energy.”

“You cheated,” Hisoka said tauntingly, making Illumi stop and look at him over his shoulder.

“I didn’t. You’re just too easy to distract.”

“Maybe,” he answered with his eternal smile, “but I’m focused now. Let’s try again. You won’t trick me so easily now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“…Alright,” Illumi answered after a moment of deliberation. “Let’s try again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaaaaaaaa I missed writing for these two, so have this~ May have some mistakes, but I'll edit later when things are calmer.
> 
> Btw, the pug thing [is real](http://edwardian-time-machine.tumblr.com/post/82138528853/parasol-with-amethyst-pug-knob-19001910-source). The dates are a bit off but, c'mon, look at that.
> 
> Thanks for reading and until next time! ❤


	10. Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tfw- ur gay

The process of leaving the train was a bit more complicated than boarding it, but they managed to do it without incidents.

Hisoka was pleased to see that Pentere was not that small of a town, and that he would actually get a whole house to live in, all for himself.

What was not fun, however, was that his mission with Illumi would have to wait. The assassin had to visit his family first, and he was not sure when he could sneak out to see him again.

But Illumi found no problem with this. In fact, he was happy. Going back home was always good.

When he got back to the mansion in Kukuroo Mountain, things seemed just as usual. Kalluto was training, Killua was grounded, and Milluki was playing with wires in his room. He went to his mother to find out what was the reason Killua was grounded now.

“He was being too friendly with one of your maids, so we punished him and killed her.”

“One of my maids?” Illumi asked pretending to sound surprised.

“Yes, the one with blond hair. We caught them chatting in the underground chambers.”

Saying that was enough. No one but his parents and Alluka’s butlers were allowed in the underground chambers.

“They weren’t close to… you know, that room,” his mother continued, “but they shouldn’t have been down there in the first place. I’m so glad you’re finally back. Killua refuses to tell anyone how he was able to get in, but I’m sure he won’t be able to hide the truth from you.”

Illumi nodded, internally relieved. After discovering what his little brother was doing, Illumi had ordered all his personal butlers to keep an eye on him while he was away. If discovered by him, they were supposed to act kindly. If discovered by their parents or other butlers, they were supposed to take all the blame. He was disappointed that his brother had allowed _himself_ to get caught, though. Now he would have to go inform him that reading visits were no longer allowed, and invent something harmless yet believable enough for their parents not to investigate further.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make him confess.”

Before he could go visit Killua, his father called him into his room. For a moment, Illumi feared it was to talk about his brother again, but it was not that. He wanted a short report on his mission and for him to explain well what had been the incident that delayed his return so much.

“Witnesses,” Illumi said simply, “too many. It took me a couple of days to get rid of them all, waited a couple more to make sure it had all ended with them and the masquerade was not in danger.”

Silva seemed to be pleased with the report, but there was something in his eyes, like he was analyzing something far away. When Illumi was about to leave the room, he asked one last question.

“Illumi, did you have any problems finding a second hotel?”

“Uh?”

“You were supposed to find another hideout. I sent you a letter instructing so.”

“Oh, I never got that letter. It must have gone missing. Why?”

Silva kept silent for a moment. “It’s not good to stay in the same place for too long when you’re away. Remember that.”

Illumi nodded. “Is that all?”

“Tomorrow night there’s going to be a ball at the Winsor Castle. We are invited, and you’re coming along. That’s all. You can go now.”

 

 

The Winsor Castle was home of one of the wealthiest families in the region, as well as one of the Zoldyck’s best clients. Illumi had been there many times in his life. It was a beautiful place, he had to admit, but he was not excited about being there, not even for a ball.

The ballroom was filled with people and the air buzzed with conversation and laughter. Food kept coming from the kitchens, as if the servants were forbidden to let the plates become empty. Illumi fiddled with his glass of wine. He could not enjoy anything of it, not the food, or the wine, or the company (not that he had ever enjoyed the company).

Truth was, after the awe of the first visits to the castle was gone, Illumi found parties excruciatingly boring. And that was meant in general, as it was hard to find a high-class party that was not just a mass of people sweating, bragging about their possessions, moving in dizzying circles as they danced always to the same songs, always with the same choreographies.

Balls were supposed to be entertaining, a ball in a castle was supposed to be the highest form of it, but as Illumi tried to walk back to his father’s side without spilling his drink, he could not see anything exciting there, nothing at all.

“Here you are, Illumi. Let me introduce you to…”

Illumi nodded and shook hands as his father kept saying names he had no intention of remembering later. Professions and titles aside, all those men were also so very plain and boring. If it weren’t for the diversity of colour in the ladies’ dresses, the whole room would be composed only of people in black, dark grey, and a handful of dark shades of blue. Illumi’s brows twitched as he remembered that he, too, was wearing nothing but black mixed with dark shades of blue.

A smiling lady approached them and one of the men took her hand lovingly and helped her move into their circle.

“This is my daughter, Lydia. She was asking me before if there was a chance she could share a dance with your son, Silva. What do you say?”

Silva gave them a smiling ‘yes’, and then turned to Illumi with icy eyes. He suppressed a sigh as he offered a hand to the lady, and made his way to the centre of the room.

“I heard you’re the oldest brother in your family, is that true?”

Illumi nodded without looking at her. He just wanted to find a spot where they could dance so it all could be over soon.

“I am the eldest of my siblings, too! What an amazing coincidence! Don’t you think? I wonder what else we might have in common.”

Illumi hummed noncommittally. Had this conversation happened some years ago, he would have made an effort. He would not have made any flirtatious comment to her, of course, but he would have inquired about her family, about if he had any younger sisters. Years ago, when he could still enjoy the touch of the sun on his skin, Illumi found a bit of fun on trying to find women that could be suitable partners for his brother when he was older. It was just a game, though. He had never discussed with his parents the possibility of leaving that task to him.

Now, playing matchmaker was not just useless, it was also saddening.

Illumi would never get to see his brother form a family. Killua would never really need a wife. No children of his would run through the forests of their vast land. He would never even grow old.

Illumi and Milluki had been lucky, in a way. Killua and Kalluto had been doubly cursed.

“There, next to the lady in the yellow, there’s a space.”

After that, it was not hard to forget the issue. Lydia kept talking and talking, even though it was clear Illumi was not interested in conversation. He decided to completely ignore her and looked around, trying to see if there was someone more interesting somewhere. But it was all the same, a sea of bright dresses and monotone suits.

Suddenly, he remembered Hisoka’s tailored suit, and he wondered what he would have picked for a party like this.

_I bet he would have picked something colourful, maybe a red bright enough to compete with the one of the woman’s dresses… Yes, red, he would probably choose red. No matter where he stood, people gazes would turn to him. Most of them would be disapproving, but he wouldn’t mind. He would most likely enjoy it, actually. Hisoka would walk around and force everyone to acknowledge his presence. But he would do it with grace. He would slide across the room like a snake in a nest of mice. And then he would…_

_…What would he do? He’s definitely not shy. Maybe he would chat with everyone until he found someone worth his interest, and then he would stick to them until they-_

Until what? So far, Hisoka had left very clear that he was not someone afraid to indulge himself. What would he do at a fancy party like this? Would he try to find someone to challenge? It was very unlikely he could find a fighter there… Then… Would he try to indulge a different kind of need?

Even if it was true Hisoka was very open in his advances, would he be so shameless as to try to lay with someone he just met at a party?

And more importantly, where would that happen?

_Would he risk adventuring into the castle? Would he lead his accomplice to a far away room, where no one could interrupt them? That would be the safest choice. …Then again, Hisoka isn’t the most cautious of men. Would it be possible that he would just lead his partner somewhere near? Like some corner behind a library in a nearby room, where they could be still be found if someone decided to open the door? Or would he be even bolder? Lead them to the gardens outside the castle, and hide behind tall, sculpted bushes, where anyone would be able to hear if they weren’t careful enough?_

“Are you even listening to me?!”

Illumi almost jolted when hearing Lydia’s voice. She was visibly angry, and he was so surprised to realize she was still there he just stared without being able to answer.

“What are you thinking about that’s so interesting you won’t pay attention to the lady dancing with you?”

“I…”

Illumi let his jaw fall slightly. How to explain he was just thinking about a man? How to explain the scandalous turn his mind had suddenly taken then?

“I… Your name was Lydia, wasn’t it?”

Slowly, still furrowing, the lady nodded.

“Lydia…” Illumi whispered as he softly held the chin of his upset dancing partner, and then locked his gaze to hers. “I want to ask something of you.”

Slowly, almost shaking at the dominating energy coming from those dark eyes, she nodded again.

“Shut up and dance.”

Some minutes later, they went back to the place where their fathers were still talking. Illumi left Lydia at her father’s side and disappeared to get another glass of wine, not to return any time soon. The businessman asked his daughter how the dance had been. It had been nice, or so she thought, she could not remember well. Not that she could confess that to her father. It was probably just the wine going to her head, but she was a lady, and ladies could not let the wine go to their heads.

“It was very nice; I had a lot of fun.”

Silva let out a concealed sigh of relief. He was glad that his son had not screwed up.


	11. Steps

Illumi thought he would be able to visit Hisoka after the ball was over, but he was wrong.

The next night, his father managed to keep him busy with correspondence, accounting and other boring tasks. The following night, he was ordered to go out on more impromptu visits to clients in the region. And so, the days passed and Illumi had been in and out the manor, but not back to the little town at the outskirts of Kukuroo Mountain.

He was not counting the nights, so he was not sure how much time had passed when Ferrer approached him discreetly with a letter.

“And this?”

“It’s from Pentere,” the girl said.

Illumi understood the secrecy and waited until he was alone to open the envelope.

 

“ _Have you forgotten about me?”_

It was all the content of Hisoka’s letter.

 

Illumi paced around with half his mind trying to remember where he kept his paper and ink and the other wondering what he was supposed to answer.

Of course he had not forgotten about him. How could he? The matter they were supposed to investigate together was of terrible importance. It was not just the fact that someone had managed to get into Illumi’s mind. No, the most important problem lay on the reasons of the culprit.

As Hisoka had suggested before, it could be just a personal thing, some kind of strange vendetta. Then again, it could be something else, something political. Illumi’s family had been banned from the world of daylight, but that was all. They kept on living next to the _real_ living. They were still tied to the rules of Society – and what was worse, vampire Society as well.

Illumi had no idea why someone from this new world he had been forced into would want to mess with him particularly. Or rather, he didn’t even want to start conjecturing, given how complicated undead Society was.

It was tiresome. Illumi wished he could go back to when he was ten and he had no need of taking sides or swearing loyalty. Back then, his life was as simple as getting missions and accomplishing them. Now, he had to make sure that all of his missions were executed according to the rules of the Camarilla, the group his family was part of.

Or rather, the group he _thought_ they were part of. After what had happened with the vampire couple nights ago, Illumi was not sure of anything anymore.

Illumi felt uneasiness brewing in his stomach. Four years he had lived under the notion that, despite everything, their alliance with the biggest group in the underworld kept the family safe.

Four precious years, deceived and lost.

Illumi stopped in the middle of his room and realized he had no intention of writing another letter. He did not want to delay something as important as this investigation anymore. He had to leave. But he couldn't. He _shouldn't_. His father and grandfather were away on business, so Illumi had been left in charge of the manor. It was the tradition. Illumi was put in charge not because he was necessarily the most apt, but only because he was the eldest son. His mother could very well take over... And so he was going to prove now, he decided.

 

He paid Killua a brief visit before leaving the mansion. His brother refused to see him, but Illumi opened his door anyway.

“I’m going down town, is there anything you need from there?”

His brother shot him such a murderous look that Illumi would have been proud of him had it been for the right reason.

“Are you still mad at me? You know it wasn’t my fault that you got caught.”

“You could have helped me.”

“And I did,” Illumi replied immediately, frankly offended. “I helped you when you were sneaking to the underground level and I helped you when you were discovered. Honestly, I don’t know what more do you want from me.”

Illumi had done all that and more. Sometimes it was just unbelievable how blind his little brother was towards his acts of benevolence. Even his current investigation was, in the end, for his sake.

Because if Illumi was not in control of all his faculties then who, pray tell, would protect him from the venomous world they were part of now? Who else would be willing to renounce to absolutely everything for him? Who else was more indebted to Killua than him?

Killua gritted his teeth, but whatever he was thinking he kept to himself.

Illumi wished he wouldn’t, but it wasn’t as if he could force him into conversation. Or into being happy.

“I’ll be coming back soon—”

“I don’t care,” Killua interrupted, his voice like thunder in his solitary room. A thunder which seemed to land on Illumi’s chest and break a bone or two. Or so it felt.

“Alright,” Illumi said, voice perfectly tamed despite everything, “goodbye then.”

He left the room without more words, but with the unpleasant feeling he had indeed fractured something inside. Yet, he didn’t let himself dwell on that. He had a new mission now, so the less distractions, the better.

Once he was already out on his horse, Illumi had completely forgotten why his chest felt so tight.

 

 

 

There were no lights inside the house he had lent to Hisoka, so Illumi worried that he was not there.

He stood in front of the locked door considering the possibility that was the case.

It could be. He had left him alone for a long while, after all.

Illumi imagined the interior of the rarely inhabited house; a cold empty kitchen, cold empty corridors, and a cold untouched bed. He saw all the rooms swallowed by darkness and felt the uneasiness brewing inside again.

He wondered why he seemed to be suffering symptoms of illness. Maybe he had been lied to and vampires _could_ get sick. He hoped not. It would be very troublesome.

The sound of someone rushing downstairs vanished all unpleasant feeling, and when Hisoka hastily opened the door Illumi widened his eyes in delighted surprise.

“You’re here,” Hisoka said, face and tone also implying he was surprised as well.

 

 

“I wasn’t expecting you!” Hisoka said as he danced around the furniture looking for matches to get some light in there. “Oh, well, I was. But it’s late so I thought I would have to wait yet another day to see you.”

“I had more business waiting for me at home than I had foreseen,” Illumi replied, taking off his coat and sitting on a chair.

 _Way more_ _than I expected_ , he thought, yet made no attempt of apologizing. If he apologized, he would have to admit he had practically left Hisoka to his luck those days. He was not up to that.

“May I offer you something to drink?” Hisoka said as he took the chair in front of his.

Illumi wasn’t sure if that was a joke, a true invitation, or sarcasm, but he ignored the question anyway.

“I won’t waste time. I’ve come here to start our investigation. Since we don’t have much before the sun rises, I’m afraid we’ll just have to stick to planning today.”

It did not take long to explain Hisoka the plan that Illumi had thought of while he was away, so simple it was.

He wanted to test the limitations of the order in his brain and how strong they really were, so they would capture a local vampire for Illumi to interrogate.

Hisoka made no comments while Illumi spoke, but he clearly seemed dissatisfied.

“Anything you wish to say?”

“Well…” Hisoka considered, a hand under his chin, “I’m just wondering if there might be other ways to achieve your goal. I mean, I’m not turning down your plan, but...”

“I have thought about it,” Illumi conceded, “but that would be the safest way. For starters, we don’t know how long it will take to find a vampire and-”

“We do,” Hisoka interrupted.

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, we do. There are about sixteen bloodsuckers in this town. I’m not sure where they all hide during the day, but!,” Hisoka said in his merry singsong voice, “I know where to find them at night.”

Illumi was left speechless for a second.

“That’s… a high number,” he finally managed to say.

“For such a little town, yes, I agree.”

Illumi examined the man in front of him, looking for signs of deceit. 

“Is what you’re saying true?”

“Of course!”

“How can you assure me that?”

Hisoka scoffed. “You left me alone for two weeks. I had more than enough time to do a research of my own.”

Two weeks. Hisoka had been stranded in this foreign land for two weeks.

“How did you manage with food?”

“I managed.”

Illumi wondered what he meant by that. He hoped it wasn't anything scandalous. He also hoped it wasn't a lie.

“You should have told me. You should have written earlier.”

Hisoka rose one of his thin brows.

“Are you blaming _me_ of _your_ abandonment?”

Illumi blinked in disbelief. It had truly been too long, for he had forgotten how fearlessly Hisoka talked back to him... It was refreshing. He had missed it, he discovered.

“I will make sure to reward you plenty once this matter is all settled,” Illumi promised before going back to the discussion of plans.

 

He was back at home a little before sunrise, which alarmed everyone in the manor. His mother, of course noting his absence, did not let the matter go and confronted her son about it the following night.

She found him in his room, already dressed for leaving. She always forgot he was an early riser.

“What on earth were you thinking yesterday? And where the hell do you think you are going now?!”

Her son stared at her, cool as always despite her chastising tone.

“I’m going to Pentere.”

“Why?! You’ve just come back, you have to—”

“It has come to my attention that the number of vampires in Pentere is unacceptably high,” Illumi interrupted her with a strong voice, yet somehow managing it not to raise it to a yell. “Did you know that?”

“Uh… Well, I didn’t. But what does it matter? Hire a hunter, or a priest—”

“It _does_ matter,” Illumi said as he tied his hair back casually as if his mother wasn’t there. “What kind of example do we set if we don’t pluck the weeds in our own front yard?”

Kikyo gasped. “I agree! But that is not something worth our time! That’s why we always hire someone else to handle it—”

“At the end of the year?” Illumi finished. “How long have we been doing that? There are currently ten vampires running free in Pentere, mother. Ten. I think it’s safe to say vermin has already deciphered your extermination schedule and it no longer fears residing in Pentere until that date.”

Kikyo tightened her grip on the fan between her hands. Ten really was an unacceptable number. Then again, it was not as if it could not wait a week or so until they managed to find a hunter or a man of faith to solve it.

“I’m going to fix it myself,” Illumi said solemnly, as if reading his mother’s thoughts. “I won’t let them laught at us under our noses.”

But his mother blocked his way.

“There really is no need! We need you here, not there with the rabble.”

Illumi stared at her with such soulless eyes that it made her tremble in fear and pride.

“I’ll be back at dawn,” he informed before disappearing in a wave of shadows.

Kikyo squeezed the fan so hard that its ivory guards broke, then ran to her bedchamber to write an urgent letter.

 

This time the door was unlocked, so Illumi walked directly into the house and then into the kitchen. It was the best place, Hisoka had offered, to spill blood without it being hard to clean.

Hisoka was already waiting, the first victim of their investigation already tied to a chair in the middle of the room, just as he had promised. At Illumi’s presence, he removed the sack that was covering the victim’s head. Before the middle-aged man under it could speak, Hisoka forcefully grabbed his jaw to keep him still.

“So, at first glance, what do you say?” Hisoka asked Illumi.

Illumi cocked his head to examine the man. His eyes were tinted with streaks of red, but besides that he looked healthy. Then again, vampires were able to look healthy when they were properly fed.

“I can’t tell.”

Hisoka grinned, satisfied, and let go of the man’s jaw only to stuff a kitchen rag in his mouth.

“You nod to say yes, shake to say no.”

There were surely many other ways to conduct their investigation, but this was what both men had decided. They would start like this, having Illumi interrogate a suspect of undetermined signs of life, just to see if the spell on Illumi was strong enough to stop him in case he was an undead.

There were, most surely, more efficient, cleaner, and quicker ways to proceed; both men knew. Still, both made no comment about it. It was an understanding, a silent agreement that it was better this way because it was like taking baby steps, not at all because it was challenging and sadistic and Hisoka liked the brief moments were Illumi’s face seemed to light up in delight because of it. They were not there to have fun, not at all.

The first interrogation went smoothly even though Illumi had to make an effort not to approach the man in the chair to inspect him closely. If he did, maybe he would have been able to tell the status of their victim, and they could not afford that, not yet.

Once Illumi felt satisfied with the amount of random, mundane questions he had made to the man, Hisoka dragged him, chair and all, to another room. After some minutes, Illumi heard the “thump” noise of a lifeless body falling to the carpeted floor. Hisoka returned gingerly into the room, bringing another tied person, this time a woman.

The second victim was given a different set of questions.

“Are you a vampire?” Illumi started with.

The woman energetically shook her head. Illumi knew he could not trust this answer, but that did not matter. What mattered was to trigger the dilemma in his head, the doubt that this person may be like him.

Apart from some tameable nervousness, Illumi could speak to her fluidly as well. Hisoka removed the rag from her mouth. They exchanged a few words before Hisoka dragged her away as well, her pleads for mercy silenced some minutes later in the adjacent room.

Illumi assumed they were done for the night but Hisoka gestured him to wait a bit, and placed another chair in the middle of the kitchen.

“You captured four?”

Hisoka gave him a low chuckle. “I don’t know, maybe.”

The last two subjects were also covered, and by the muffled sounds of their struggling they were also already gagged. Illumi felt suspicious immediately. Normal townspeople would not try to fight back someone with such an unnerving aura as Hisoka’s.

Hisoka sat them side by side and pulled the flour sacks off their heads. As expected, thick rope muted their mouths.

“Alright, darlings,” Hisoka told the pair of young men as he lifted their head up by the hair so they were looking directly at Illumi, “remember the rules of the game. If you want to be freed, you have to convince this man here that you are not vampires. Convince him, and you will be spared.”

Illumi crossed his arms. It was inevitable to try to get to a conclusion just by Hisoka’s words. At least one of them had to be a vampire. _At least one_. The collar of his shirt felt too tight all of a sudden.

“You go first,” Hisoka said as he untied the one at his right.

The man adjusted his jaw, then immediately spit in front of him.

“I am not afraid of you,” he declared, and then hissed in a way that was clearly meant to show off his pointy fangs in an attempt of threat.

“Ah, damn,” Hisoka sighed.

Illumi sighed as well.

“I guess we’re done with this one.” Hisoka was about to pull away the chair but Illumi made him stop. He approached the captive man and leaned to his level.

“I- I’m not afraid of you!!” the creature repeated, though his nervousness at the short distance between him and Illumi’s unblinking stare was almost palpable.

 

After a moment of silence, Illumi huffed and straightened up.

“I can’t,” he said to Hisoka with a slight hunch of his shoulders.

“Yes, you can!” Hisoka cheered on, then grabbed the man’s head to secure it in place and leaned his head over a shoulder. “Just imagine he’s me.”

Reluctantly, Illumi focused on the vampire again.

“…I can’t.”

“Would it help to know the first ones were vampires too?”

Illumi turned to his accomplice.

“You’ve already done this, twice,” Hisoka continued, a playful smile on his lips. “There’s no reason you can’t do it again.”

It made sense, yet still, when Illumi turned to the vampire, he couldn’t help to be crushed by a sudden overwhelming guilt.

“It feels wrong,” he confessed.

Hisoka was about to say something, but the creature started struggling again, and his teeth got dangerously close to Hisoka's ear. After the failed attack, he resorted to yell nasty things at his captors. Youths those days knew no respect.

Illumi took his heart out. It was not as clean a move as he had wished, due to the rope, but the moment the young man placed his eyes on what was being held in front of him was beautiful anyway. He twitched on the chair for a few seconds. Illumi let him. The vampire was clearly of weak blood; he would not survive an injury like that.

The organ made a wet sound when it was dropped on the vampire’s lap. Hisoka whistled and made a comment that Illumi didn’t really hear. He was already looking at the other man. He was even younger than the other, probably a teen. He was shaking, and two shiny lines went down his cheeks.

“Let’s try our luck with this other one,” Hisoka said.

Illumi shook his head. “He's useless now. I already know he's a mortal.”

“Huh? How could you tell?”

Illumi was surprised for a moment, then happy that there were still things he could teach Hisoka about.

“Didn’t you know?” Illumi said and signalled at his eyes with a finger. “A vampire’s tears are made of blood.”

 

They dropped the corpses on the basement and Illumi proposed to send a trusted servant to help him bury them and also tidy the house. Hisoka said there was no need, but that he wouldn't mind someone washing his clothes. Illumi promised to send his personal butlers, since they were already acquainted with him. He also promised to send food and new clothes. Hisoka did not refuse to that.

He wouldn’t have noticed how much time they had spent talking if it weren’t for the candle in their table melting completely. By the time Illumi arrived at the manor, the sky was dangerously clear. He went directly into his room. Thankfully, he didn’t meet his mother in the way.

 

She did however manage to find him the next night, when he was saddling his horse.

“Illumi!” she called, walking into the stables despite still being in her bed clothing. “What are you doing?!”

“Preparing my gear,” he answered without pausing or looking at her.

“Oh, I can see that! What I mean is where do you think you are going?”

He could feel his mother’s anger despite not facing her.

“You know where I’m going.”

She was definitely very, very angry.

“Illumi, my dear,” she said with a sweetness that was betrayed by her aura, “I already told you, there’s no need. I requested a hunter yesterday, the same that helped us last time. He’ll be here in a couple of days, I’m sure.”

While his mother kept speaking, Illumi mounted his horse.

“Good. I’m still going, though.”

He pressed his heels against the horse’s stomach and the animal galloped away at such speed his mother’s yelling was soon unintelligible.

 

In a town so small, the disappearance of three people out of a pool of sixteen was suspicious enough to make some of the remaining thirteen want to flee. Still, since Hisoka had been awake for two nights and a day, they had agreed he would rest and they would retake their investigation at night, together. It was all in the name of practicality, Illumi reminded himself as he prompted his horse to go faster. Practicality, and nothing more; they were not there to have fun.

 

They contented themselves with just one prey, to act as it was Illumi’s original plan. The new victim was a man, not of striking frame, but strong as a bull. For that same reason, he had to be glued with nen instead of just tied with rope.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Hisoka teased once they were already back at their hideout.

Illumi paced around. It was not that simple. His skin tingled as if thousands of insects crawled over him. His head was not filled with voices, but he still felt that what he was trying to do was very wrong.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but once I free myself you’ll both regret it, you freaks.”

Both men were surprised to hear their prey suddenly speak.

“You’re a vampire too, aren’t you?” He was addressing at Illumi, a hint of mockery teasing in his calm tone. “What are you doing, huh? You killing your own brother?”

Hisoka looked at Illumi, as if giving him the floor.

Illumi stood in front of the vampire. The itching intensified, both because of the manipulation and out of anger at that scum calling him 'brother'. Still, it seemed he was not ready to talk yet.

Hisoka kneeled next to their captive prey. He stared at Illumi with eyes full of malice.

“He is a vampire, yes,” he told the man. “But I'm pretty sure he is not related to you, not by a mile.”

The vampire scowled at Hisoka, then turned to Illumi again. “What, this ginger speaks for you? Are you mute, you son of a bitch?”

Hisoka grinned. “He’s not mute. He’s just of too pure pedigree to waste breath on a mutt like you.”

Illumi’s brows twitched. He was not sure what Hisoka pretended, but raising the tension in the room was certainly not helping his cause.

“Huuh?? What the fuck do you mean?”

Hisoka leaned even closer to his prisoner.

“This gentleman in front of you,” Hisoka purred, “is none other than Illumi Zoldyck.”

It took the vampire a couple of seconds to connect the last name with the people who practically owned the region. After that, Hisoka had to dig his heels on the floor as he grabbed on the nen leash to stop his rabid prisoner from plunging towards Illumi, tied and all.

That didn’t stop him from cursing, though. The vampire recited Illumi a rosary much worse than the one they had gotten the previous night. It was worse not only because of the creativity and passion of his insults, but because they were all specifically directed at Illumi’s family.

_Just kill him._

Illumi very much agreed with the voice in his head this time, yet did not move an inch.

_Just kill him._

He parted his mouth. The vampire’s rage filled his head with a noise louder than the rest, in the room and his head. Illumi focused on it.

_Just...  kill…_

He focused on the man, on his spiteful mouth. He registered each insult, let them burn like coal in his veins.

“You’re not welcome here,” he heard himself say.

The vampire was unaffected and continued ranting. Hisoka, though, smiled wide in great surprise.

“Illumi!”

“Ah-” It was all he managed to say before the guilt washed over him again.

Was that talking? Could that be considered talking if the other one was not really listening? Was it wrong? It had to be wrong. It felt horribly wrong. He should just kill him. He should just—

“Illumi, I’m so proud of you!”

Illumi must have blanked out, because Hisoka was suddenly at his side, giving him a short applause.

“I… I really didn’t talk with him.”

“Maybe, but you talked _to_ him. It’s the first step. It’s important as well.”

He supposed so, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

“I think we should leave it here today.”

Hisoka took a step back. “Oh… are you sure?”

He was not.

“The more time passes, the more likely that the other vampires catch up to what we are doing and escape,” Hisoka continued. “Are you sure you want to stop now?”

He was not. Part of him wanted to continue, try again; the other part wanted to get his horse and ride back home.

“I think we should stop now.”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked what did you _want_.”

Illumi’s brows threatened to frown. “What I want is not important.”

“Is that you speaking, or the one pulling your strings?”

A frown settled in Illumi’s brows so deep that his skin felt taut.

“Hey, hey,” Hisoka said, raising his hands. “Don’t get angry at me. I’m on your side.”

Illumi brushed his hair back, the feeling on his forehead still present and uncomfortable.

He wasn’t sure what side _he_ was on.

“Hey, you coward! Done chatting yet??” the vampire yelled from the floor, on which he had fallen at some point of his rant.

Illumi’s mind cleared a bit.

He was not sure what he wanted to do with the investigation at the moment, but he was completely certain he wanted to silence that man’s trap.

 

Despite what his mind ordered, Illumi didn’t leave right away. He sat on a sofa at the main room and waited there while Hisoka dropped the corpse down the basement stairs to be dealt with later.

“What are you thinking?”

Illumi looked up at the mortal. There was no playfulness in his smirk, no dangerous spark in his eyes. He looked back at his hands, intertwined over his knees.

“I remember leaving home so eager to solve all this, but now I am really tempted to leave it all aside and pretend nothing ever happened.”

Hisoka walked to the sofa in silence and sat on the other extreme.

“That doesn’t sound very smart.”

“I know…” he replied.

“…May I be blunt with you?”

Hisoka waited for a reply. Silence was not exactly one, but it wasn’t a ‘no’ either.

“This guilt of yours makes no sense. You keep saying you feel you’re doing something wrong, but I’m sure you must have done a thousand things worse than just having a little chat with someone.”

“…I know,” Illumi repeated after a while. “But I can’t control it.”

“Yes, you can.” Hisoka moved closer. “If your mind was really not your own, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“You don’t understand… It’s not just the awareness of it. It affects me physically. It freezes me, it holds me back.”

“But why? What do you feel?”

Illumi’s eyes scanned the floor, as if he could find the answer there.

“…Fear, I guess.”

“Guilt,” Hisoka corrected.

Finally, Illumi lifted his gaze to face Hisoka.

“You feel guilt,” Hisoka continued. “But why?”

Illumi blinked at him, twice, thrice. “…Because I’m disobeying.”

“Who?”

"The order."

Hisoka shook his head. "Who are you really afraid to disobey?"

“I…” Illumi’s mouth opened and closed. He felt he was betraying his family, but there was no way that was the case. There was no way it was them who had planted the order in him and he hurt them in no way by speaking to other kindred. “Stop. I know where you’re going with this, but it’s not that simple.”

“Is it not?”

“It is not.”

“Explain me why.”

Illumi felt the muscles in his face trying to rebel. He didn’t like one bit the turn their conversation had taken.

“I can’t. We’re too different, you would never understand.”

Hisoka huffed, expecting some speech about class or the superiority of the supernatural over humankind.

“And what is it that makes us so different?”

“You’re free.”

This time, Hisoka could not shoot back a reply. What was he supposed to say to that? How could he convince Illumi that he was also a free man, especially now that he seemed so doubtful and closed?

Before he could reply, Illumi spoke again.

“I think I should go.”

He reached out to stop him but Illumi evaded him easily. The silence that followed after the door was shut was like quicksand. His remained in his spot a long time, for fear of being swallowed by it.

 

Hisoka couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking over and over of how Illumi had said that. There had been no inflection in his voice, no expression in his face, and it only made it worse. Clearly, Illumi was not free. But how did he feel about that? Did he even feel something at all? Or did he need permission for that too?

It wasn’t that he worried for Illumi or his wellbeing. Hisoka was too smart for that. Still, he couldn’t deny his situation left a sour taste in his mouth. He was convinced that the one behind the strange order was someone in his family, and their last conversation only reinforced this belief.

Illumi would never hear it, though. Not as closed to everything as he had suddenly turned. That didn’t mean Hisoka would give up trying to point him in that direction. He really wanted Illumi to see what seemed so obvious to him.

It was with this in mind that he left the house as soon as the sun rose. He would hunt with daylight again, and when Illumi returned that night he would have his offering all nice and ready for him and everything would be alright.

But Illumi seemed to have different plans.

Sometime in the afternoon, Hisoka found someone had slid a letter under his door. The envelope was sealed with a wax stamp of a big letter Z adorned by filigree vines. The inside contained a letter with an apology, a farewell, and a hefty amount of money in bills and documents.


	12. The Beast and other voices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Beast: The drives and urges which prompt a vampire to become entirely a monster, forsaking all humanity. VtM Rulebook, p. 194.

Manipulation was not always flawless. It was not simple either. It all depended on the intention. Contrary to popular belief, taking complete control over someone was much easier than imparting a single order. Controlling someone completely was a violent act, even if it rarely showed. Each time one of Illumi’s needles pierced the flesh of a target, the victim was hit with an amount of aura too caustic for their body to endure, like the venom of a viper snake. Implanting a single order was not as simple. It was an art which required delicacy instead of roughness. As an artisan, Illumi had to be careful with his materials. As a nen user, his materials were his nen, his needles, and his victims’ minds.

It was for this reason, because he knew how it all worked, that he had to admit Hisoka was right. It was guilt, indeed, what he had felt, and it was only reasonable. Now that the first shock had passed and Illumi was aware of the trick being played on him, there was not much to be afraid of. Illumi knew nothing would really happen to him. He could feel horrible, in terrible pain even, but that was it. That was the only way this spell could work against him, by adding to the weight he already carried on his back.

And it was for this same reason, because Hisoka was right, that Illumi suddenly understood that he had to leave. He had to set things right. This quest was a personal one, and he should have never dragged other people along with him.

Illumi rode back to Kukuroo Mountain as if sunrise was right around the corner. He had to. The more time it took him to reach his destination, the more time for his mind to spin around over the problematic. He could not let that happen. It would only continue to cloud his mind, so he focused only on the task at hand, made a list of steps to follow, and locked any lingering worry behind heavy doors.

Back at home, he was careful to avoid everyone on the way to his father’s studio. He searched through his desk for new mission requests, looking for something he could snatch for himself, something far away where he could continue investigating with more ease.

He could not help remembering Hisoka. This time, he would not ask him to come along. Hisoka was, after all, a free man. He was not bound by duty the way Illumi was and he probably did not even understand what that meant. He was a stray soul, with no real ideal or person to devote himself to, and for this Illumi pitied him, for how lost and lonely he was.

The thought of asking him to become his servant or ghoul passed briefly through his mind, but did not stay. He had to stop involving people in a problem that was meant for only him to solve. Besides, he highly doubted Hisoka would agree to wear such a heavy leash.

Back in his own room, Illumi gathered some money and some property papers – nothing fancy – to make up for all the help and time lost. He considered handing it on person the following night, but then decided not to. It would be better if one of the girls delivered it during the day so he did not waste more time in that town and could finally leave. Hisoka was probably hoping for that. He had to let him go.

 

The following night, Illumi woke up to insistent knocking on his door. It was Ferrer. She hurried inside the room as soon as Illumi opened the door, and he was about to scold her for her informality when she spoke.

“He was here,” she said nervously, showing him some blank piece of paper that Illumi wasn’t quite sure what to make of as he was still not fully awake.

“Who?”

“Uhm… _Him_ … That man,” she answered cautiously. Despite being impulsive by nature, she knew that sometimes the walls of the mansion had ears.

Illumi’s eyes opened wide as he recognized the thing in the girl’s hands as the letter he had sent to Hisoka.

“He left,” the girl added, “but he left something for you, a letter. It’s inside the envelope.”

Illumi sat on his desk and emptied the envelope’s contents on it. The money, the documents, they were still there. There were two letters, though. He read the new one.

_Dear Illumi,_

_I’m writing to you in the most confused of states after receiving your last letter. In case I missed something yesterday, the task for which you requested my assistance has not yet been reached. Why then, I must ask, are you dismissing me? Since I have not fulfilled my part of our agreement yet, I cannot accept your payment, as generous and unusual as it is –why would anyone want to own a country house?–._

_If you are unsatisfied with my assistance thus far, or if I offended you somehow, please tell me so I can correct myself and we can continue working together._

_I will be waiting for you same as always. Please do come. I won’t trust other words than those that come from your own lips._

 

Somehow, Illumi felt a little lighter after reading the letter.

He shouldn’t, though, since it was implied that if Illumi did not talk to him _in person_ , Hisoka would keep insisting on meeting again.

But it did ease his initial tension. The letter was polite and well redacted and, though it was unlikely Hisoka had been as calm as the redaction suggested, at least he supposed he had not caused a fuss when he delivered it.

He was about to ask Ferrer about this matter when there was another knock on his door. He barely managed to hide everything in the first drawer before someone barged in.

“Illumi –”

His mother was cut off by the presence of the young butler in Illumi’s room. She turned to her and said nothing; it was clear she wanted her to leave.

“I was about to feed,” Illumi lied, too on edge about almost being caught to try confronting his mother’s temper but still wanting to keep Ferrer by his side.

Ferrer ducked her head to avoid the mother’s stare. Even under the jewelled headdress she used to wear, she was still intimidating.

After some seconds, she turned back to her son.

“Make sure not to distract the servants for too long,” she said in a calm yet spiteful tone. “We’ve received notice that the Ambassadors will be visiting sometime this week. The house must be in pristine condition for their arrival.”

Kikyo left, but her words remained clogging up the air in the room.

If those people were visiting, there was no way he could leave the house in peace, even if they had not arrived yet.

Still, the possibility of Hisoka appearing at the gates to demand why he hadn’t appeared was also a terrible prospect.

“Master Illumi?” Ferrer asked. “What should we do?”

 

Illumi sneaked to the terrace in which they kept all of their carriers and attached a letter to one of them.

He stayed there after the bird left. Hopefully, Hisoka would resort to the pet bird instead of going back to Kukuroo.

Hisoka was sitting on the fence by the road when he noticed it, a big bird, flying in the dark. It was a curious sight; it was rare to see birds awake at night, much less one flying alone, and of such bulk.

It was even rarer to see it flying right over his head and descending directly into his house’s porch.

He approached the animal- It was a large eagle, with limbs so muscular they defied the physics of flight and eyes so big and dark it was no surprise it could find its way in the dark. The animal started pecking at the main door, and it was then that Hisoka noticed it carried something on its back. He tried to reach it, but the animal wouldn’t let him. Finally, he gave up and opened the door for it. The bird walked funnily inside, and only then it calmed down. The thing tied to its back was a little pouch; inside it, there was a carefully folded letter.

 

_Do not dare show your face here or you’ll get both of us in trouble. I’m being serious. Don’t come close to the mountain. Don’t even try._

Hisoka smiled. He had said he would accept no letters, as some sort of safety catch, but that all-warnings start did sound like the self-controlled Illumi he knew.

_You have not insulted me. Even if you tried, I’m not one to fall for insults._

_You have not disappointed me either. You’ve been very helpful, and I’m grateful, but I can’t continue to ask you to support me._

_We have visitors. I can’t leave until they leave. Since I have no idea when this will be and it seems you don’t appreciate life at the countryside, I must insist that you return to your normal life._

 

Hisoka paused. His hopes that Illumi’s sudden decision had been just the result of manipulation-related panic were crushed. If he was telling the truth, and so it seemed, they wouldn’t be able to meet any time soon.

_I also insist that you accept your payment. Come by the gates tomorrow at dawn. The girls will provide you money for your trip, and a horse and provisions if you so desired._

 

The letter ended there. Hisoka turned the paper around in case he had missed more text, but he hadn’t. Illumi had ended his letter as abruptly as their meeting the previous night.

Still, the monstrous bird was still perched to one of his chairs, so he supposed he could still send a reply with it.

 

 

_I will wait for you for a couple of days. I refuse to believe the chain around your neck is so tight you can’t spare a night or two, not for me, but for yourself._

The ending was a bit blunt, but he hoped it managed to wake Illumi from the unnecessary correctness that was tying him to his house in the mountain. Surely no one could ever have a guest who was more important than oneself.

He sent back the bird and waited, and waited, and waited… but there were no more replies from Illumi that night.

 

The next morning, however, he was glad to see one of the girl butlers at his door. Nanker corroborated Illumi’s story while she tidied Hisoka’s room, Hisoka in the bathroom adjacent to it, listening from a full, warm bathtub.

“So who are these guests?”

“Oh, I’m not sure. I’m relatively new to the house. All I know is that everyone’s running like crazy to keep everything perfect for them.”

Hisoka hummed. “Maybe they are Royalty.”

“Maybe.”

Hisoka hummed again. He was sure the little butler must know more, but it would not be easy to take the information from a fellow transmuter.

“You know,” the butler giggled, “your visit yesterday caused quite the turmoil.”

Hisoka was not surprised at the change of subject, but he was at the words.

“It did? Even though I tried not to...”

“I know, and again, thank you for that, but you know… The manor has many servants, and rumours run fast.”

“Oooh,” Hisoka turned and leaned against the side of his bathtub. “Rumours, you say?”

“Mhm, it is rumoured that master Illumi has a mistress in town.”

Hisoka gasped. “I’m a mistress!”

“What? No! Not you. You were just his messenger. The mistress is said to be a mysterious lady, a beauty from foreign lands, currently residing in town or somewhere near.”

Hisoka sunk on the bathtub causing a splash. “That’s not fair. That description fits me perfectly. I could totally be the mistress.”

The girl laughed and seemed to drop the topic, but Hisoka was taken by sudden curiosity.

“Now, seriously, my friend… Is Illumi known for having affairs away from home?”

There was a short snorting sound from the other room, and then the butler appeared at his door.

“No. Quite the opposite, I would say.”

“Oh.”

Hisoka pondered on this. It wasn’t that he intended to have an affair with Illumi, but he did have an interest in him that swayed from his usual combative needs.

It was Illumi’s bite, and his constant refusal to give him just that.

Hisoka could simply not understand why, in all their time together, he had had so little luck getting the vampire to do exactly what vampires were known for doing. Why was he so reluctant to bite him? The man had to feed sometime!

After being so constantly rejected, Hisoka was starting to wonder if maybe he was just not Illumi’s taste. But that was still not good enough an explanation. Even if Hisoka’s blood was not Illumi’s favourite, he considered that the container was attractive enough to tempt him into taking a sip or two. But that still didn’t happen. Hisoka had openly offered himself more times than his pride would usually allow him, and still nothing. This was madness. This was unacceptable.

“Nan-chan, let me be more specific… Do you know if Illumi has an aversion to men’s blood?”

It was worth asking. Although strange, it was a possibility. If Illumi only drank women’s blood, that would explain why he always had the two girls following him around.

“Men’s blood?” Nanker put a hand under her chin as she tried to remember. “I don’t think so. He has never made any comment about it.”

 Hisoka tapped his fingers against the bathtub. If that wasn’t the reason, then what?

“May I know why you’re asking?” The girl ventured curiously.

Hisoka sighed. “Well… You see, I have this… issue.”

The girl nodded attentively for him to continue.

“I… I am seeing myself less useful to your master than I would like.”

“What do you mean?”

Hisoka sighed again. “He doesn’t seem to favour me much…”

The girl frowned, she seemed even more confused.

“He won’t drink my blood!” Hisoka finally confessed, letting a hand fall heavily on the surface and splashing more water around. “He won’t bite me, and I don’t know why. What’s wrong with me? Do I taste bad? I can’t believe I taste _that_ bad.”

The girl put a hand in front of her to try suppressing an obvious laugh.

“Master Illumi is an unusual person.”

“Oh, I have taken notice of that already.”

“He mainly feeds from me and other butlers, but he rarely bites us.” The girl pulled the cuff of one sleeve up and showed him her forearm. “Most times, we just fill him a cup like this.”

Angry-pink stripes went down her pale skin. Some were fading, some seemed recent.

“So, this is only a conjecture, but I would say that if master has an aversion to something, it’s to the biting more than the bitten.”

 

Hisoka continued thinking about the subject even after Nanker retired back to the mountain.

The girl’s conclusion made sense. It was unfortunate, because he was really looking forward to relive that. The memories could be faded now but he was still sure that, at the moment, he had found the experience as exhilarating as drugs, as sex, as even both of them together. But if Illumi really had no desire for such acts, then there was nothing to do but respect that. In fact, if Illumi didn’t have any desire at all, no amount of teasing would change that.

So it was time to let that go. He would no longer try to instigate Illumi, and he would no longer tease him- … Or well, maybe he could still tease him, from time to time. Just to annoy him a little bit.

 

 

Illumi hid the folded letter inside a hidden pocket and made his way towards the birds’ cages. He was barely there when he felt it, like an unexplainable gust, the presence of his youngest brother.

He walked past the stairs that lead to the terrace. When Kalluto was around, the walls had ears and eyes and a little mouth that wouldn’t hesitate to report everything they had seen to their mother.

When he was safely away from his original destination, he stopped and turned around.

“Are you also going to the greenhouse?”

“Ah, aniki!” his brother’s reply came as he emerged from the shadows, amused at being caught. “You noticed me.”

“Indeed.”

“How?”

“You were too loud,” Illumi lied.

Kalluto bit his lower lip. “I will get better.”

“I’m sure you will.”

There was no sarcasm behind his words, but Kalluto’s face twisted as if there was. Kalluto’s face was, even now, too honest for his own sake.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No…”

Too honest, too troubled. Each time Illumi talked to his little brother, it worried him more and more.

Kalluto was an excellent apprentice. He was always looking to improve, always striving for perfection. But this quest of his, this drive, was also his biggest flaw. Kalluto did not only have goals, he had desires.

At the beginning, they had not been important. Recognition, validation, just the typical wants of a childish heart.

Now, or more specifically, after his embrace, Kalluto’s ambitions kept growing so wildly that you could almost see them in his aura, a storm of wants and feelings he was too old to still home. Envy, jealousy, resentment, spite. Kalluto approached him and Illumi felt the pull of his aura before actually seeing him.

Illumi stared at Kalluto and was not really sure he was entirely seeing _him_. He was not sure how much of his brother was left, how much of him had succumbed to _it_.

The Beast, probably the worst element of their curse; a need, an urge, a sickness attempting to make one lose all control, a parasite wanting to take over.

The Beast, hidden inside each and every one of them. The Beast, so tempting, calling each time they sunk their teeth into warm skin, reaching and feeding from their deepest desires and fears.

The Beast, so naturally at home under his brother’s skin.

“Aniki,” Kalluto asked with a syrupy voice and a smile on his lips, “do you think I’ll be able to catch you someday?”

A smile, a challenge, a threat.

“I hope not,” Illumi answered flatly. “I’m your oldest brother, so I should always be ahead of you.”

 

Eventually, Kalluto got bored of him and walked away. His fabricated smile was too familiar to Illumi to trick him. He was not happy. But he was never happy. Whatever Illumi said, Kalluto would always find a way to twist. If that kept escalating, it could prove worse than the first time one of his brothers had fallen victim of their curse’s inner voice.

Milluki had fallen once. It happened short after his embrace, when he first discovered the kind of blood that he said felt like ambrosia and not like spoilt milk. To no one’s surprise, he ended up going back to his unhealthy overfeeding habits. What was a surprise, though, was the effect that this had on Milluki. He became shameless, openly perverse. He took on practices that were unnecessary, reproachable, and obscene. When the number of maids started to decline, their parents decided to put a stop to it.

Milluki was intervened. It had not been a peaceful process, but he recovered, and now he filled his time with gears and bearings. With this history, it was only natural to think that if Kalluto also happened to become lost once, he could be brought back, so he worried, but didn’t lose his head about it.

For Killua, he would never have to worry. He seemed immune to the call of the Beast, just as expected of the rightful heir.

He, though, was a constant battle.

And now, he had even one more idiocy-whispering voice to continuously silence.

He could never totally silence the Beast, he suspected, but he could at least exterminate that other one. And so he would, as soon as he was able to leave Kukuroo again.


End file.
